Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation on transputer arrays

The authors have implemented a particle-in-cell method on a 32 transputer computing network. The tests have shown that the performance of this system reaches 1/8 of the equivalent one for the code optimized for a CRAY Y-MP/2E. The system performance analysis shows that this network remains cost-effective until expanded approximately up to 100 transputers. This transputer equipment has provided an efficient computational tool for investigating a novel physical phenomenon -- a collisionless mechanism for separation of different elements in colliding plasma beams.