WHAM: A WENO-based general relativistic numerical scheme I: Hydrodynamics

Understand

Active galactic nuclei, x-ray binaries, pulsars, and gamma-ray bursts are all believed to be powered by compact objects surrounded by relativistic plasma flows driving phenomena such as accretion, winds, and jets.

• These flows are often accurately modelled by the relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) approximation.
• Time-dependent numerical MHD simulations have proven to be especially insightful, but one regime that remains difficult to simulate is when the energy scales (kinetic, thermal, magnetic) within the plasma become disparate.
• We develop a numerical scheme that significantly improves the accuracy and robustness of the solution in this regime.