Evolution of the Tracking Code PLACET

The tracking code PLACET simulates beam transport and orbit corrections in linear accelerators. It incorporates single- and multi-bunch effects, static and dynamic imperfections. A major restructuring of its core has resulted in an improvement in its modularity, with some immediate advantages: its tracking core, which is one of the fastest available for this kind of simulations, is now interfaced toward three different scripting languages to further expand its simulation capabilities: Tcl/Tk, Octave, and Python. These three languages provide access to a vast and diverse library of scientific tools, mechanisms for parallel computing, and access to Java interfaces for control systems. Also, several new functionalities have been added to the PLACET core itself: parallel tracking to exploit modern multicore CPUs and clusters of computers, the possibility to track through the interaction region in presence of external magnetic fields (detector solenoid) and higher order imperfections in magnets. PLACET is currently used to simulate the CLIC Drive Beam, the CLIC Main Beam, CTF3, FACET at SLAC, and ATF2 at KEK amongst others.