Protostellar collapse: A comparison between SPH and AMR calculations

TL;DR

This study compares SPH and AMR numerical methods in simulating protostellar collapse, finding convergence with sufficient resolution and establishing criteria for accurate core formation modeling.

Contribution

It provides a detailed comparison of SPH and AMR methods for star formation simulations and proposes resolution criteria for reliable results.

Findings

Convergence between SPH and AMR with adequate resolution.

Resolution criteria based on Jeans mass for accurate core formation.

Encouraging results for future low-mass star formation simulations.

Abstract

The development of parallel supercomputers allows today the detailed study of the collapse and the fragmentation of prestellar cores with increasingly accurate numerical simulations. Thanks to the advances in sub-millimeter observations, a wide range of observed initial conditions enable us to study the different modes of low-mass star formation. The challenge for the simulations is to reproduce the observational results. Two main numerical methods, namely AMR and SPH, are widely used to simulate the collapse and the fragmentation of prestellar cores. We compare thoroughly these two methods within their standard framework. We use the AMR code RAMSES and the SPH code DRAGON. Our physical model is as simple as possible and consists of an isothermal sphere rotating around the z-axis. We first study the conservation of angular momentum as a function of the resolution. Then, we explore a wide range of simulation parameters to study the fragmentation of prestellar cores. There seems to be a convergence between the two methods, provided resolution in each case is sufficient. Resolution criteria adapted to our physical cases, in terms of resolution per Jeans mass, for an accurate description of the formation of protostellar cores are deduced from the present study. This convergence is encouraging for future work in simulations of low-mass star formation, providing the aforementioned criteria are fulfilled. Higher resolution figures can be downloaded at http://www-dapnia.cea.fr/Projets/COAST/paper_amrvssph.pdf