A comparison and benchmark of two electron cloud packages: POSINST and VORPAL

We present results from precision simulations of the electron cloud (EC) problem in the Fermilab Main Injector using two distinct codes. These two codes are (i)POSINST, a F90 2D+ code, and (ii)VORPAL, a 2D/3D electrostatic and electromagnetic code used for self-consistent simulations of plasma and particle beam problems. A specific benchmark has been designed to demonstrate the strengths of both codes that are relevant to the EC problem in the Main Injector. As differences between results obtained from these two codes were bigger than the anticipated model uncertainties, a set of changes to the POSINST code were implemented. These changes are documented in this note. This new version of POSINST now gives EC densities that agree with those predicted by VORPAL, within ≈ 20%, in the beam region. The root cause of remaining differences are most likely due to differences in the electrostatic Poisson solvers. From a software engineering perspective, these two codes are very different. We comment on the pros and cons of both approaches. The design(s) for a new EC package are briefly discussed. PACS numbers: 29.27.-a