VEST: Abstract Vector Calculus Simplification in Mathematica

J. Squire, J. Burby and H. Qin

关键词: Guiding-center Approximations;    Computational Physics;    Computer Codes;    Computer Algebra;   

DOI  :  10.2172/1073490
RP-ID  :  PPPL-4857
PID  :  OSTI ID: 1073490

学科分类：原子、分子光学和等离子物理

美国|英语

来源: SciTech Connect

【 摘 要 】

We present a new package, VEST (Vector Einstein Summation Tools), that performs abstract vector calculus computations in Mathematica. Through the use of index notation, VEST is able to reduce scalar and vector expressions of a very general type using a systematic canonicalization procedure. In addition, utilizing properties of the Levi-Civita symbol, the program can derive types of multi-term vector identities that are not recognized by canonicalization, subsequently applying these to simplify large expressions. In a companion paper [1], we employ VEST in the automation of the calculation of Lagrangians for the single particle guiding center system in plasma physics, a computation which illustrates its ability to handle very large expressions. VEST has been designed to be simple and intuitive to use, both for basic checking of work and more involved computations. __________________________________________________