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A PIC simulation (particle-in-cell simulation) is a type of plasma simulation, with a fixed mesh grid, and particles that travel through the cells outlined by the grid, using appropriate equations for the dynamics of particles, and appropriate equations for the changing fields. The particles are representative, i.e., each individual particle in the simulation represents many such particles within that cell. Their position within the mesh allows determination of the masses and number densities of portions of the simulated plasma over time. The technique was developed in the very early days of scientific ("automatic") computing in the 1950s.