Computational astrophysics

Computational Astrophysics

Advances in Computational Astrophysics

I n recent years, a common concern among computational scientists has been the need to prepare for computing at the petaflop scale and beyond. Many question the capabilities and validity of extant numerical methods for multiscale and multiphysics (no need to even mention multidimensional) simulations taking full advantage of coming architectures. Computational scientists are also concerned that...

Multi-scale and multi-domain computational astrophysics.

Astronomical phenomena are governed by processes on all spatial and temporal scales, ranging from days to the age of the Universe (13.8 Gyr) as well as from kilometre size up to the size of the Universe. This enormous range in scales is contrived, but as long as there is a physical connection between the smallest and largest scales it is important to be able to resolve them all, and for the stu...

PLUTO: a Numerical Code for Computational Astrophysics

We present a new numerical code, PLUTO, for the solution of hypersonic flows in 1, 2 and 3 spatial dimensions and different systems of coordinates. The code provides a multi-physics, multi-algorithm modular environment particularly oriented towards the treatment of astrophysical flows in presence of discontinuities. Different hydrodynamic modules and algorithms may be independently selected to ...

Embracing Uncertainty in Large-Scale Computational Astrophysics

A revolution is underway in astronomy resulting from massive astrophysical surveys providing a panchromatic view of the night sky. The next generation of surveys and the simulations used to calibrate them can produce in two nights what the previous generation produced over many years. This enormous image acquisition capability allows the telescope to revisit areas of the sky with sufficient fre...