Numerical Methods for Plasma Astrophysics:
From Particle Kinetics to MHD

CSIC Building (#406), Seminar Room 4122.
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Adaptive Particle Refinement

Dr. Gregory Howes

Department of Physics and Astronomy at UCLA

Abstract:   Lagrangian methods have long been used for astrophysical fluid simulation because of the adaptivity inherent in following fluid elements, or "particles". The resulting resolution enhancement, however, occurs chiefly in regions of increased fluid density. I will describe a new approach to Lagrangian simulations that adjusts particle density according to the error of a local least squares fit to the fluid profile. Other improvements over previous Lagrangian techniques include magnetic divergence corrections for accurate inclusion of magnetic fields.