KOBRA 3 - a code for the calculation of space-charge-influenced trajectories in 3-dimensions

KOBRA3 is a three-dimensional multi-purpose program, written in standard FORTRAN77. The main purpose of the program is to calculate the trajectories of charged particles through a static electro-magnetic field in three dimensions. If space charge is not negligible its influence is taken into account by an iterative process. The Laplace equation is solved for the scalar potential. During the ray tracing, in which the equations of motion for charged particles are solved, the space charge term in the Poisson equation is distributed onto the mesh. By repeating this procedure the steady-state Vlasov equation is solved: ∇2φ+∫∫∫fpdxdydz = 0, where φ is the electro-static potential and fp(r vector, v vector) describes the distribution of the charged particles in space. KOBRA3 can handle finite plasma boundaries, which are found by the program automatically. Special features are included within the program to investigate the beam quality (emittance, transverse energy), and to display the geometry, the trajectories and the potential and magnetic fields graphically. The modular structure of the program enables the user to create his (her) own diagnostic programs or interfaces to the main program. This report is intended to facilitate the use of KOBRA3 by describing the theory, structure and numerical methods used. At GSI (Gesellschaft fuer Schwerionenforschung) the program runs on an IBM 3090-40E. The program has been installed on other machines e.g. CRAY XM-P, CRAY II, VAX 8600, IBM 3090-200, IBM 3033, ATARI ST, IBM-AT. (orig./HSI)