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Paper: |
Numerical Stellar Hydrodynamics and its Application to the Evolution of Galaxies |
Volume: |
453, Advances in Computational Astrophysics: Methods, Tools, and Outcome |
Page: |
409 |
Authors: |
Vorobyov, E. I.; Mitchell, N. L.; Hensler, G. |
Abstract: |
We present a numerical stellar hydrodynamics approach, an alternative to N-body
methods, for studying the dynamics of stellar systems and dark matter halos. The stellar
hydrodynamics equations (SHE) are derived by taking the three first moments of the collisionless
Boltzmann equation. The SHE relax the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium for the translational
degrees of freedom of stars, which results in the anisotropic local pressure of stars described by
the velocity dispersion tensor. The equations of stellar hydrodynamics can be easily coupled with
those of classic hydrodynamics on the same grid stencil, as is currently being done with the
cdFlash code, a modified version of the FLASH code developed by the Alliance Center for
Astrophysical Thermonuclear Flashes. This coupling ensures considerable savings in computational
time compared to N-body methods. Moreover, SHE directly evolve observable quantities, which makes
this approach particularly useful for making predictions and comparisons with the upcoming GAIA
mission. |
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