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Center for Nonlinear Studies |
I review numerical approaches to modeling the solar wind and associated Heliospheric magnetic fields. Much of the space plasma environment can be modeled under the MHD assumption where the primary constraint is Div B = 0 and this leads to methods that differ considerably in approach. Other capabilities such as the ability to deal with shocks, adaptive mesh refinement and the practical difficulties of large-scale simulation on parallel supercomputers introduce additional challenges. I describe a new unsplit staggered mesh high-order Godunov scheme1 that uses a modified electric field construction to maintain divergence-free fields and balances anti-dissipation found in the discrete representation of the induction equation. Results of some stringent multidimensional test problems are presented that demonstrate the scheme’s excellent performance. 1 Lee, D. and Deane, A.E., “An Unsplit Staggered Mesh Scheme for Multidimensional Magnetohydrodynamics with Efficient Dissipation Controls,” (submitted J. Comput. Physics, 2007).
Host: Mac Hyman