Expansion techniques for collisionless stellar dynamical simulations

Abstract

We present ETICS, a collisionless N-body code based on two kinds of series expansions of the Poisson equation, implemented for graphics processing units (GPUs). The code is publicly available and can be used as a standalone program or as a library (an AMUSE plugin is included). One of the two expansion methods available is the self-consistent field (SCF) method, which is a Fourier-like expansion of the density field in some basis set; the other is the multipole expansion (MEX) method, which is a Taylor-like expansion of the Green's function. MEX, which has been advocated in the past, has not gained as much popularity as SCF. Both are particle-field methods and optimized for collisionless galactic dynamics, but while SCF is a “pure” expansion, MEX is an expansion in just the angular part; thus, MEX is capable of capturing radial structure easily, while SCF needs a large number of radial terms.