A test suite for quantitative comparison of hydrodynamics codes in astrophysics

TL;DR

This paper evaluates four astrophysical simulation codes using standardized tests to compare their accuracy and suitability for different types of astrophysical phenomena involving shocks and density contrasts.

Contribution

It provides a systematic comparison of Eulerian and Lagrangian codes in astrophysics, highlighting their strengths and optimal application scenarios.

Findings

Adaptive Eulerian codes excel in regions with rapid density changes.

Lagrangian methods are better for problems with large density contrasts.

Comparable results achieved when approximately one particle per grid cell is maintained.

Abstract

We test four commonly used astrophysical simulation codes; Enzo, Flash, Gadget and Hydra, using a suite of numerical problems with analytic initial and final states. Situations similar to the conditions of these tests, a Sod shock, a Sedov blast and both a static and translating King sphere occur commonly in astrophysics, where the accurate treatment of shocks, sound waves, supernovae explosions and collapsed haloes is a key condition for obtaining reliable validated simulations. We demonstrate that comparable results can be obtained for Lagrangian and Eulerian codes by requiring that approximately one particle exists per grid cell in the region of interest. We conclude that adaptive Eulerian codes, with their ability to place refinements in regions of rapidly changing density, are well suited to problems where physical processes are related to such changes. Lagrangian methods, on the other hand, are well suited to problems where large density contrasts occur and the physics is related to the local density itself rather than the local density gradient.