6,976 research outputs found
Relativistic MHD with Adaptive Mesh Refinement
This paper presents a new computer code to solve the general relativistic
magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) equations using distributed parallel adaptive mesh
refinement (AMR). The fluid equations are solved using a finite difference
Convex ENO method (CENO) in 3+1 dimensions, and the AMR is Berger-Oliger.
Hyperbolic divergence cleaning is used to control the
constraint. We present results from three flat space tests, and examine the
accretion of a fluid onto a Schwarzschild black hole, reproducing the Michel
solution. The AMR simulations substantially improve performance while
reproducing the resolution equivalent unigrid simulation results. Finally, we
discuss strong scaling results for parallel unigrid and AMR runs.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures, 3 table
ECHO: an Eulerian Conservative High Order scheme for general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics and magnetodynamics
We present a new numerical code, ECHO, based on an Eulerian Conservative High
Order scheme for time dependent three-dimensional general relativistic
magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) and magnetodynamics (GRMD). ECHO is aimed at
providing a shock-capturing conservative method able to work at an arbitrary
level of formal accuracy (for smooth flows), where the other existing GRMHD and
GRMD schemes yield an overall second order at most. Moreover, our goal is to
present a general framework, based on the 3+1 Eulerian formalism, allowing for
different sets of equations, different algorithms, and working in a generic
space-time metric, so that ECHO may be easily coupled to any solver for
Einstein's equations. Various high order reconstruction methods are implemented
and a two-wave approximate Riemann solver is used. The induction equation is
treated by adopting the Upwind Constrained Transport (UCT) procedures,
appropriate to preserve the divergence-free condition of the magnetic field in
shock-capturing methods. The limiting case of magnetodynamics (also known as
force-free degenerate electrodynamics) is implemented by simply replacing the
fluid velocity with the electromagnetic drift velocity and by neglecting the
matter contribution to the stress tensor. ECHO is particularly accurate,
efficient, versatile, and robust. It has been tested against several
astrophysical applications, including a novel test on the propagation of large
amplitude circularly polarized Alfven waves. In particular, we show that
reconstruction based on a Monotonicity Preserving filter applied to a fixed
5-point stencil gives highly accurate results for smooth solutions, both in
flat and curved metric (up to the nominal fifth order), while at the same time
providing sharp profiles in tests involving discontinuities.Comment: 20 pages, revised version submitted to A&
Energy Extraction from Black Holes
In this lecture I give an introduction to the rotational energy extraction of
black holes by the electromagnetic Blandford-Znajek process and the generation
of relativistic jets. After some basic material on the electrodynamics of black
hole magnetospheres, we derive the most important results of Blandford and
Znajek by making use of Kerr-Schild coordinates, which are regular on the
horizon. In a final part we briefly describe results of recent numerical
simulations of accretion flows on rotating black holes, the resulting
large-scale outflows, and the formation of collimated relativistic jets with
high Lorentz factors.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures,invited lecture given at the III Mexican Meeting
on Mathematical and Experimental Physics, September 10-14, 2007 at El Colegio
Nacional; to be published by the American Institute of Physic
Equation of State in Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamics: variable versus constant adiabatic index
The role of the equation of state for a perfectly conducting, relativistic
magnetized fluid is the main subject of this work. The ideal constant
-law equation of state, commonly adopted in a wide range of
astrophysical applications, is compared with a more realistic equation of state
that better approximates the single-specie relativistic gas. The paper focus on
three different topics. First, the influence of a more realistic equation of
state on the propagation of fast magneto-sonic shocks is investigated. This
calls into question the validity of the constant -law equation of state
in problems where the temperature of the gas substantially changes across
hydromagnetic waves. Second, we present a new inversion scheme to recover
primitive variables (such as rest-mass density and pressure) from conservative
ones that allows for a general equation of state and avoids catastrophic
numerical cancellations in the non-relativistic and ultrarelativistic limits.
Finally, selected numerical tests of astrophysical relevance (including
magnetized accretion flows around Kerr black holes) are compared using
different equations of state. Our main conclusion is that the choice of a
realistic equation of state can considerably bear upon the solution when
transitions from cold to hot gas (or viceversa) are present. Under these
circumstances, a polytropic equation of state can significantly endanger the
solution.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figure
Assessment of a high-resolution central scheme for the solution of the relativistic hydrodynamics equations
We assess the suitability of a recent high-resolution central scheme
developed by Kurganov & Tadmor (2000) for the solution of the relativistic
hydrodynamics equations. The novelty of this approach relies on the absence of
Riemann solvers in the solution procedure. The computations we present are
performed in one and two spatial dimensions in Minkowski spacetime. Standard
numerical experiments such as shock tubes and the relativistic flat-faced step
test are performed. As an astrophysical application the article includes
two-dimensional simulations of the propagation of relativistic jets using both
Cartesian and cylindrical coordinates. The simulations reported clearly show
the capabilities of the numerical scheme to yield satisfactory results, with an
accuracy comparable to that obtained by the so-called high-resolution
shock-capturing schemes based upon Riemann solvers (Godunov-type schemes), even
well inside the ultrarelativistic regime. Such central scheme can be
straightforwardly applied to hyperbolic systems of conservation laws for which
the characteristic structure is not explicitly known, or in cases where the
exact solution of the Riemann problem is prohibitively expensive to compute
numerically. Finally, we present comparisons with results obtained using
various Godunov-type schemes as well as with those obtained using other
high-resolution central schemes which have recently been reported in the
literature.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, to appear in A&
Disk formation in the collapse of supramassive neutron stars
Short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs) show a large diversity in their properties.
This suggests that the observed phenomenon can be caused by different "central
engines" or that the engine produces a variety of outcomes depending on its
parameters, or possibly both. The most popular engine scenario, the merger of
two neutron stars, has received support from the recent Fermi and INTEGRAL
detection of a burst of gamma rays (GRB170817A) following the neutron star
merger GW170817, but at the moment it is not clear how peculiar this event
potentially was. Several sGRBs engine models involve the collapse of a
supramassive neutron star that produces a black hole plus an accretion disk. We
study this scenario for a variety of equations of states both via angular
momentum considerations based on equilibrium models and via fully dynamical
Numerical Relativity simulations. We obtain a broader range of disk forming
configurations than earlier studies but we agree with the latter that none of
these configurations is likely to produce a phenomenon that would be classified
as an sGRB.Comment: accepted by MNRA
X-ray astronomy in the new Millenium. A Summary
Recent X-ray observations have had a major impact on topics ranging from
protostars to cosmology. They have also drawn attention to important and
general physical processes that currently limit our understanding of thermal
and nonthermal X-ray sources. These include unmeasured atomic astrophysics data
(wavelengths, oscillator strengths etc.), basic hydromagnetic processes (e.g.
shock structure, reconnection), plasma processes (such as electron-ion
equipartition and heat conduction) and radiative transfer (in disks and
accretion columns). Progress on these problems will probably come from
integrative studies that draw upon observations, throughout the electromagnetic
spectrum, of different classes of source. X-ray observations are also giving a
new perspective on astronomical subjects, like the nature of galactic nuclei
and the evolution of stellar populations. They are contributing to answering
central cosmological questions including the measurement of the matter content
of the universe, understanding its overall luminosity density, describing its
chemical evolution and locating the first luminous objects. X-ray astronomy has
a healthy future with several international space missions under construction
and in development.Comment: 12 page
High-Order Fully General-Relativistic Hydrodynamics: new Approaches and Tests
We present a new approach for achieving high-order convergence in fully
general-relativistic hydrodynamic simulations. The approach is implemented in
WhiskyTHC, a new code that makes use of state-of-the-art numerical schemes and
was key in achieving, for the first time, higher than second-order convergence
in the calculation of the gravitational radiation from inspiraling binary
neutron stars Radice et al. (2013). Here, we give a detailed description of the
algorithms employed and present results obtained for a series of classical
tests involving isolated neutron stars. In addition, using the
gravitational-wave emission from the late inspiral and merger of binary neutron
stars, we make a detailed comparison between the results obtained with the new
code and those obtained when using standard second-order schemes commonly
employed for matter simulations in numerical relativity. We find that even at
moderate resolutions and for binaries with large compactness, the phase
accuracy is improved by a factor 50 or more.Comment: 34 pages, 16 figures. Version accepted on CQ
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