Particles List (Format Specification)¶
Legend
Bolded datasets / attributes are required to meet the format spec. Italicized are optional.
HDF5 Datasets¶
| Name | Description | Array Shape | Units |
|---|---|---|---|
| x | x position of particle | N or 1 | meters |
| y | y position of particle | N or 1 | meters |
| z | z position of particle | N or 1 | meters |
| px | momentum of particle, x-component | N or 1 | kg * m/s |
| py | momentum of particle, y-component | N or 1 | kg * m/s |
| pz | momentum of particle, z-component | N or 1 | kg * m/s |
| charge | particle charge | N or 1 | kilograms |
| mass | particle mass | N or 1 | Coulombs |
| energy | particle energy (can be derived from px,py,pz,mass) | N | eV |
| weight | for pseudoparticles, number of real particles represented | N or 1 | real particles / pseudoparticle |
| spec_name | particle species name (e.g. "p+")1 | N or 1 | |
| id | unique particle ID (e.g. 4073) | N |
HDF5 Attributes¶
| Name | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| object_type | Specification of the HDF5 object type | "particles" (always this value) |
| particles_type | Specification of the particles sub-type | "list" (always this value) |
| pradformat_version | HDF5 pradformat file format version followed (see above for current version) | "0.1.0" |
| shuffled | Whether the order of particles in this list has been randomly shuffled. 0 for false, 1 for true. | 0 or 1 |
| label | Short, identifying label for this file (with no spaces or crazy characters). This can be stamped onto plots, etc. | "SCARLET_TNSA" |
| description | Longer description of this file. This can be read by people trying to figure out where this file came from. | "TNSA proton source, assuming a 3J Scarlet Laser focused to 3 um spot size on a solid 500-nm thick Aluminum target." |
| file_date | Date this file was created, in the format "YYYY-MM-DD" | "2021-04-06" |
| raw_data_filename | Filename of the raw data file (e.g. simulation output) from which this derivative file was created, if applicable. | "/fs/EPOCH/mysim/sdf0013" |
Footnotes¶
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For best compatibility, consider using the PlasmaPy particle symbol conventions. For example, protons can be specified as just “p+”, and electrons by "e-". Any arbitrary isotope of Hydrogen can be specified “ H-I q+” where I is the mass number and q is the charge. ↩