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In this exploratory submission we present the visualization of the largest interstellar turbulence simulations ever performed, unravelling key astrophysical processes concerning the formation of stars and the relative role of magnetic fields. The simulations, including pure hydrodynamical (HD) and magneto-hydrodynamical (MHD) runs, up to a size of $10048^3$ grid elements, were produced on the supercomputers of the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre and visualized using the hybrid parallel (MPI+TBB) ray-tracing engine OSPRay associated with VisIt. Besides revealing features of turbulence with an unprecedented resolution, the visualizations brilliantly showcase the stretching-and-folding mechanisms through which astrophysical processes such as supernova explosions drive turbulence and amplify the magnetic field in the interstellar gas, and how the first structures, the seeds of newborn stars are shaped by this process.
This paper presents an extension of the hybrid scheme proposed by Wang et al. (J. Comput. Phys. 229 (2010) 169-180) for numerical simulation of compressible isotropic turbulence to flows with higher turbulent Mach numbers. The scheme still utilizes an 8th-order compact scheme with built-in hyperviscosity for smooth regions and a 7th-order WENO scheme for highly compressive regions, but now both in their conservation formulations and for the latter with the Roe type characteristic-wise reconstruction. To enhance the robustness of the WENO scheme without compromising its high-resolution and accuracy, the recursive-order-reduction procedure is adopted, where a new type of reconstruction-failure-detection criterion is constructed. To capture the upwind direction properly in extreme conditions, the global Lax-Friedrichs numerical flux is used. In addition, a new form of cooling function is proposed, which is proved to be positivity-preserving. With these techniques, the new scheme not only inherits the good properties of the original one but also extends largely the computable range of turbulent Mach number, which has been further confirmed by numerical results.
A set of $N$ points is chosen randomly in a $D$-dimensional volume $V=a^D$, with periodic boundary conditions. For each point $i$, its distance $d_i$ is found to its nearest neighbour. Then, the maximal value is found, $d_{max}=max(d_i, i=1,...,N)$. Our numerical calculations indicate, that when the density $N/V$=const, $d_{max}$ scales with the linear system size as $d^2_{max}propto a^phi$, with $phi=0.24pm0.04$ for $D=1,2,3,4$.
We explore higher-dimensional generalizations of the Runge-Kutta-Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin method for integrating coupled systems of first-order ordinary differential equations with highly oscillatory solutions. Such methods could improve the performance and adaptability of the codes which are used to compute numerical solutions to the Einstein-Boltzmann equations. We test Magnus expansion-based methods on the Einstein-Boltzmann equations for a simple universe model dominated by photons with a small amount of cold dark matter. The Magnus expansion methods achieve an increase in run speed of about 50% compared to a standard Runge-Kutta integration method. A comparison of approximate solutions derived from the Magnus expansion and the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) method implies the two are distinct mathematical approaches. Simple Magnus expansion solutions show inferior long range accuracy compared to WKB. However we also demonstrate how one can improve on the standard Magnus approach to obtain a new Jordan-Magnus method. This has a WKB-like performance on simple two-dimensional systems, although its higher-dimensional generalization remains elusive.
This review puts the developments of the last few years in the context of the canonical time line (Kolmogorov to Iroshnikov-Kraichnan to Goldreich-Sridhar to Boldyrev). It is argued that Beresnyaks objection that Boldyrevs alignment theory violates the RMHD rescaling symmetry can be reconciled with alignment if the latter is understood as an intermittency effect. Boldyrevs scalings, recovered in this interpretation, are thus an example of a physical theory of intermittency in a turbulent system. Emergence of aligned structures brings in reconnection physics, so the theory of MHD turbulence intertwines with the physics of tearing and current-sheet disruption. Recent work on this by Loureiro, Mallet et al. is reviewed and it is argued that we finally have a reasonably complete picture of MHD cascade all the way to the dissipation scale. This picture appears to reconcile Beresnyaks Kolmogorov scaling of the dissipation cutoff with Boldyrevs aligned cascade. These ideas also enable some progress in understanding saturated MHD dynamo, argued to be controlled by reconnection and to contain, at small scales, a tearing-mediated cascade similar to its strong-mean-field counterpart. On the margins of this core narrative, standard weak-MHD-turbulence theory is argued to require adjustment - and a scheme for it is proposed - to take account of the part that a spontaneously emergent 2D condensate plays in mediating the Alfven-wave cascade. This completes the picture of the MHD cascade at large scales. A number of outstanding issues are surveyed, concerning imbalanced MHD turbulence (for which a new theory is proposed), residual energy, subviscous and decaying regimes of MHD turbulence (where reconnection again features prominently). Finally, it is argued that the natural direction of research is now away from MHD and into kinetic territory.
We explore the use of field solvers as approximations of classical Vlasov-Poisson systems. This correspondence is investigated in both electrostatic and gravitational contexts. We demonstrate the ability of field solvers to be excellent approximations of problems with cold initial condition into the non linear regime. We also investigate extensions of the Schrodinger-Poisson system that employ multiple stacked cold streams, and the von Neumann-Poisson equation as methods that can successfully reproduce the classical evolution of warm initial conditions. We then discuss how appropriate simulation parameters need to be chosen to avoid interference terms, aliasing, and wave behavior in the field solver solutions. We present a series of criteria clarifying how parameters need to be chosen in order to effectively approximate classical solutions.