VORPAL: a computational tool for the study of advanced accelerator concepts

VORPAL, a fully object-oriented, dimension-free plasma simulation code, now has matured and is being used to study advanced accelerator concepts, particularly Laser Wake Field Acceleration (LWFA). Both fluid and PIC models exist in the code and they can be used independently or in conjunction to perform hybrid simulations. VORPAL has a moving window and the ability to launch laser pulses from boundaries or initialize pulses in the plasma. VORPAL can accommodate a variety of different issues in LWFA, including chirped pulses, propagation of pulse in plasma channels, and optical injection of particle beams.