bitwise and operator usage in dsmcFields function object
 

Hi foamers - in the function object dsmcFields.C some of the calculations make usage of the bitwise and (&) operator to compute new fields. It seems to somehow involve converting a vector field into a scaler field.

Info<< " Calculating translationalT field." << endl;
00163 volScalarField translationalT
00164 (
00165 IOobject
00166 (
00167 "translationalT",
00168 obr_.time().timeName(),
00169 obr_,
00170 IOobject::NO_READ
00171 ),
00172 2.0/(3.0*dsmcCloud::kb*rhoNMean)
00173 *(linearKEMean - 0.5*rhoMMean*(UMean & UMean))
00174 );
In the above code, UMean is a vector field. I'm new to C++ and the books that I have picked up only describe bitwise and in terms of bit by bit modification. Does anyone understand the usage of the operator in the code above.


Many Thanks