Creant universos virtuals. Supercomputació en astrofísica

Creating Virtual Worlds. Supercomputing in Astrophysics.Astrophysics and Cosmology are disciplines in which we cannot reproduce the phenomena studied in the laboratory. For a long time, this limitation has constrained the development of these fi elds of physics, which are unable to apply the scientifi c method based on theoretical models compared withexperimental results. However, this panorama has changed considerably in recent decades due to the emergence of supercomputing in Astrophysics and Cosmology. This article summarizes the recent developments and contributions of this new scientifi c discipline, whose future prospects are bound to hold the key to our understanding of the Universe

Magnetorotational Instability in Core-Collapse Supernovae

We discuss the relevance of the magnetorotational instability (MRI) in core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe). Our recent numerical studies show that in CCSNe, the MRI is terminated by parasitic instabilities of the Kelvin-Helmholtz type. To determine whether the MRI can amplify initially weak magnetic fields to dynamically relevant strengths in CCSNe, we performed three-dimensional simulations of a region close to the surface of a differentially rotating proto-neutron star in non-ideal magnetohydrodynamics with two different numerical codes. We find that under the conditions prevailing in proto-neutron stars, the MRI can amplify the magnetic field by (only) one order of magnitude. This severely limits the role of MRI channel modes as an agent amplifying the magnetic field in proto-neutron stars starting from small seed fields.Comment: Proceedings in Acta Physica Polonica B, Proceedings Supplement, Vol. 10, No. 2, p.361, 4 pages, 1 figur

On the convexity of Relativistic Ideal Magnetohydrodynamics

We analyze the influence of the magnetic field in the convexity properties of the relativistic magnetohydrodynamics system of equations. To this purpose we use the approach of Lax, based on the analysis of the linearly degenerate/genuinely non-linear nature of the characteristic fields. Degenerate and non-degenerate states are discussed separately and the non-relativistic, unmagnetized limits are properly recovered. The characteristic fields corresponding to the material and Alfv\'en waves are linearly degenerate and, then, not affected by the convexity issue. The analysis of the characteristic fields associated with the magnetosonic waves reveals, however, a dependence of the convexity condition on the magnetic field. The result is expressed in the form of a generalized fundamental derivative written as the sum of two terms. The first one is the generalized fundamental derivative in the case of purely hydrodynamical (relativistic) flow. The second one contains the effects of the magnetic field. The analysis of this term shows that it is always positive leading to the remarkable result that the presence of a magnetic field in the fluid reduces the domain of thermodynamical states for which the EOS is non-convex.Comment: 14 pages. Submitted to Classical and Quantum Gravit