4,933 research outputs found
Introducing PHAEDRA: a new spectral code for simulations of relativistic magnetospheres
We describe a new scheme for evolving the equations of force-free
electrodynamics, the vanishing-inertia limit of magnetohydrodynamics. This
pseudospectral code uses global orthogonal basis function expansions to take
accurate spatial derivatives, allowing the use of an unstaggered mesh and the
complete force-free current density. The method has low numerical dissipation
and diffusion outside of singular current sheets. We present a range of one-
and two-dimensional tests, and demonstrate convergence to both smooth and
discontinuous analytic solutions. As a first application, we revisit the
aligned rotator problem, obtaining a steady solution with resistivity localised
in the equatorial current sheet outside the light cylinder.Comment: 23 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
A multiple-beam CLEAN for imaging intra-day variable radio sources
The CLEAN algorithm, widely used in radio interferometry for the
deconvolution of radio images, performs well only if the raw radio image (dirty
image) is, to good approximation, a simple convolution between the instrumental
point-spread function (dirty beam) and the true distribution of emission across
the sky. An important case in which this approximation breaks down is during
frequency synthesis if the observing bandwidth is wide enough for variations in
the spectrum of the sky to become significant. The convolution assumption also
breaks down, in any situation but snapshot observations, if sources in the
field vary significantly in flux density over the duration of the observation.
Such time-variation can even be instrumental in nature, for example due to
jitter or rotation of the primary beam pattern on the sky during an
observation. An algorithm already exists for dealing with the spectral
variation encountered in wide-band frequency synthesis interferometry. This
algorithm is an extension of CLEAN in which, at each iteration, a set of N
`dirty beams' are fitted and subtracted in parallel, instead of just a single
dirty beam as in standard CLEAN. In the wide-band algorithm the beams are
obtained by expanding a nominal source spectrum in a Taylor series, each term
of the series generating one of the beams. In the present paper this algorithm
is extended to images which contain sources which vary over both frequency and
time. Different expansion schemes (or bases) on the time and frequency axes are
compared, and issues such as Gibbs ringing and non-orthogonality are discussed.
It is shown that practical considerations make it often desirable to
orthogonalize the set of beams before commencing the cleaning. This is easily
accomplished via a Gram-Schmidt technique.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in A&
FFT-LB modeling of thermal liquid-vapor systems
We further develop a thermal LB model for multiphase flows. In the improved
model, we propose to use the FFT scheme to calculate both the convection term
and external force term. The usage of FFT scheme is detailed and analyzed. By
using the FFT algorithm spatiotemporal discretization errors are decreased
dramatically and the conservation of total energy is much better preserved. A
direct consequence of the improvement is that the unphysical spurious
velocities at the interfacial regions can be damped to neglectable scale.
Together with the better conservation of total energy, the more accurate flow
velocities lead to the more accurate temperature field which determines the
dynamical and final states of the system. With the new model, the phase diagram
of the liquid-vapor system obtained from simulation is more consistent with
that from theoretical calculation. Very sharp interfaces can be achieved. The
accuracy of simulation results are also verified by the Laplace law. The FFT
scheme can be easily applied to other models for multiphase flows.Comment: 34 pages, 21 figure
StaRMAP - A second order staggered grid method for spherical harmonics moment equations of radiative transfer
We present a simple method to solve spherical harmonics moment systems, such
as the the time-dependent and equations, of radiative transfer.
The method, which works for arbitrary moment order , makes use of the
specific coupling between the moments in the equations. This coupling
naturally induces staggered grids in space and time, which in turn give rise to
a canonical, second-order accurate finite difference scheme. While the scheme
does not possess TVD or realizability limiters, its simplicity allows for a
very efficient implementation in Matlab. We present several test cases, some of
which demonstrate that the code solves problems with ten million degrees of
freedom in space, angle, and time within a few seconds. The code for the
numerical scheme, called StaRMAP (Staggered grid Radiation Moment
Approximation), along with files for all presented test cases, can be
downloaded so that all results can be reproduced by the reader.Comment: 28 pages, 7 figures; StaRMAP code available at
http://www.math.temple.edu/~seibold/research/starma
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