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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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