Divergence-Free Reconstruction of Magnetic Fields and WENO Schemes for Magnetohydrodynamics

Balsara (2001, J. Comput. Phys., 174, 614) showed the importance of divergence-free reconstruction in adaptive mesh refinement problems for magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and the importance of the same for designing robust second order schemes for MHD was shown in Balsara (2004, ApJS, 151, 149). Second order accurate divergence-free schemes for MHD have shown themselves to be very useful in several areas of science and engineering. However, certain computational MHD problems would be much benefited if the schemes had third and higher orders of accuracy. In this paper we show that the reconstruction of divergence-free vector fields can be carried out with better than second order accuracy. As a result, we design divergence-free weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) schemes for MHD that have order of accuracy better than second. A multistage Runge-Kutta time integration is used to ensure that the temporal accuracy matches the spatial accuracy. Accuracy analysis is carried out and it is shown that the schemes meet their design accuracy for smooth problems. Stringent tests are also presented showing that the schemes perform well on those tests

High-order conservative finite difference GLM-MHD schemes for cell-centered MHD

We present and compare third- as well as fifth-order accurate finite difference schemes for the numerical solution of the compressible ideal MHD equations in multiple spatial dimensions. The selected methods lean on four different reconstruction techniques based on recently improved versions of the weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) schemes, monotonicity preserving (MP) schemes as well as slope-limited polynomial reconstruction. The proposed numerical methods are highly accurate in smooth regions of the flow, avoid loss of accuracy in proximity of smooth extrema and provide sharp non-oscillatory transitions at discontinuities. We suggest a numerical formulation based on a cell-centered approach where all of the primary flow variables are discretized at the zone center. The divergence-free condition is enforced by augmenting the MHD equations with a generalized Lagrange multiplier yielding a mixed hyperbolic/parabolic correction, as in Dedner et al. (J. Comput. Phys. 175 (2002) 645-673). The resulting family of schemes is robust, cost-effective and straightforward to implement. Compared to previous existing approaches, it completely avoids the CPU intensive workload associated with an elliptic divergence cleaning step and the additional complexities required by staggered mesh algorithms. Extensive numerical testing demonstrate the robustness and reliability of the proposed framework for computations involving both smooth and discontinuous features.Comment: 32 pages, 14 figure, submitted to Journal of Computational Physics (Aug 7 2009

Positivity-Preserving Finite Difference WENO Schemes with Constrained Transport for Ideal Magnetohydrodynamic Equations

In this paper, we utilize the maximum-principle-preserving flux limiting technique, originally designed for high order weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) methods for scalar hyperbolic conservation laws, to develop a class of high order positivity-preserving finite difference WENO methods for the ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations. Our schemes, under the constrained transport (CT) framework, can achieve high order accuracy, a discrete divergence-free condition and positivity of the numerical solution simultaneously. Numerical examples in 1D, 2D and 3D are provided to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method.Comment: 21 pages, 28 figure

Multidimensional HLLE Riemann solver; Application to Euler and Magnetohydrodynamic Flows

In this work we present a general strategy for constructing multidimensional Riemann solvers with a single intermediate state, with particular attention paid to detailing the two-dimensional Riemann solver. This is accomplished by introducing a constant resolved state between the states being considered, which introduces sufficient dissipation for systems of conservation laws. Closed form expressions for the resolved fluxes are also provided to facilitate numerical implementation. The Riemann solver is proved to be positively conservative for the density variable; the positivity of the pressure variable has been demonstrated for Euler flows when the divergence in the fluid velocities is suitably restricted so as to prevent the formation of cavitation in the flow. We also focus on the construction of multidimensionally upwinded electric fields for divergence-free magnetohydrodynamical flows. A robust and efficient second order accurate numerical scheme for two and three dimensional Euler and magnetohydrodynamic flows is presented. The scheme is built on the current multidimensional Riemann solver. The number of zones updated per second by this scheme on a modern processor is shown to be cost competitive with schemes that are based on a one-dimensional Riemann solver. However, the present scheme permits larger timesteps

Very High Order \PNM Schemes on Unstructured Meshes for the Resistive Relativistic MHD Equations

In this paper we propose the first better than second order accurate method in space and time for the numerical solution of the resistive relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (RRMHD) equations on unstructured meshes in multiple space dimensions. The nonlinear system under consideration is purely hyperbolic and contains a source term, the one for the evolution of the electric field, that becomes stiff for low values of the resistivity. For the spatial discretization we propose to use high order \PNM schemes as introduced in \cite{Dumbser2008} for hyperbolic conservation laws and a high order accurate unsplit time discretization is achieved using the element-local space-time discontinuous Galerkin approach proposed in \cite{DumbserEnauxToro} for one-dimensional balance laws with stiff source terms. The divergence free character of the magnetic field is accounted for through the divergence cleaning procedure of Dedner et al. \cite{Dedneretal}. To validate our high order method we first solve some numerical test cases for which exact analytical reference solutions are known and we also show numerical convergence studies in the stiff limit of the RRMHD equations using \PNM schemes from third to fifth order of accuracy in space and time. We also present some applications with shock waves such as a classical shock tube problem with different values for the conductivity as well as a relativistic MHD rotor problem and the relativistic equivalent of the Orszag-Tang vortex problem. We have verified that the proposed method can handle equally well the resistive regime and the stiff limit of ideal relativistic MHD. For these reasons it provides a powerful tool for relativistic astrophysical simulations involving the appearance of magnetic reconnection.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures, submitted to JC