VisualPIC - A Data Visualizer for PIC Codes

Introduction

VisualPIC is a new software for data visualization and analysis specifically designed to work with Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulation codes, mainly for its application in plasma wakefield acceleration.

The original aim of VisualPIC was to provide a flexible and easy-to-use interface for data analysis, allowing the user to visualize the simulation results without having to write any code. This reduces the need of custom made scripts which, even if very efficient for specific cases, can easily tend to become quite cluttered and unpractical when used as the only tool for data visualization.

The main principles under which this application was developed are:

• Easyness of use (must have a graphical user interface).
• Cross-platform.
• Written in Python (and Qt for the interface).
• Open-source.
• Compatibility with multiple PIC codes.
• Open for collaboration.
• Modular design.

The main capabilities of the program include 2D and 3D visualization of fields and particle data, particle tracking through the simulation, the creation of snapshots and animations, as well as a dedicated visualizer for making eye-catching 3D renders of the simulation.

Installation

Required software

• Python 3.5 or higher.
• Qt 5.7 or higher (will be installed with PyQt5).
• FFmpeg.

Required Python packages

• Numpy.
• SciPy.
• Matplotlib.
• PyQt5.
• H5Py.
• Pillow.
• openPMD-viewer.

Windows Installation

• Install Python 3.5 or higher. Download here. Choose the 64-bit version, otherwise you will be very limited in memory.

• Dowload the numpy+MKL wheels from here.

  • Then, on cmd, go to the folder where you downloaded the file and run pip install 'name-of-file'

• Dowload the SciPy wheels from here.

  • Then, on cmd, go to the folder where you downloaded the file and run pip install 'name-of-file'

• Install PyQt5: pip install pyqt5.

• Install matplotlib: pip install matplotlib.

• Install Pillow: pip install pillow.

• Install H5Py: pip install h5py.

• Install VTK: pip install vtk.

• For compatibility with codes using openPMD, install openPMD-viewer: pip install openPMD-viewer

• Download FFmpeg (link) and add it to your system PATH (As explained here, for example).

• Finally, install visualPIC by cloning this repository and by typing:

python setup.py install

After this, you should be able to run VisualPIC, simply by typing

visualPIC

from the command line. (You do not need to be inside any specific folder for this.)

Collaborating

Adding support for more PIC codes

One of the main objectives when designing VisualPIC was that it should be able to read data from any code, but without adding more complexity to the main logic.

As a consequence, all the data reading process has been isolated from the rest of the code in well defined clases that read the data and "give it" to the rest of the code in a standarized way, independent from the simulation code that was used to create the data files.

For more details about this and on how to add compatibility for more simulation codes, see the documentation.

Citing VisualPIC

If you use VisualPIC to produce plots or figures for any scientific work, please provide a reference to the following publication:

A. Ferran Pousa et al., VisualPIC: A New Data Visualizer and Post-Processor for Particle-in-Cell Codes, presented at IPAC’17, Copenhagen, Denmark, May 2017, paper TUPIK007.