A new multidimensional, energy-dependent two-moment transport code for neutrino-hydrodynamics

TL;DR

This paper introduces ALCAR, a multidimensional, energy-dependent neutrino transport code that balances accuracy and efficiency for supernova and neutron-star merger simulations by solving moment equations with an algebraic closure.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel, efficient two-moment neutrino transport scheme that improves upon flux-limited diffusion and is more computationally feasible than Boltzmann solvers.

Findings

The code accurately reproduces results of detailed Boltzmann-based simulations.

ALCAR demonstrates significant computational efficiency in multidimensional settings.

The scheme effectively models neutrino interactions and frame-dependent effects.

Abstract

We present the new code ALCAR developed to model multidimensional, multi energy-group neutrino transport in the context of supernovae and neutron-star mergers. The algorithm solves the evolution equations of the 0th- and 1st-order angular moments of the specific intensity, supplemented by an algebraic relation for the 2nd-moment tensor to close the system. The scheme takes into account frame-dependent effects of order O(v/c) as well as the most important types of neutrino interactions. The transport scheme is significantly more efficient than a multidimensional solver of the Boltzmann equation, while it is more accurate and consistent than the flux-limited diffusion method. The finite-volume discretization of the essentially hyperbolic system of moment equations employs methods well-known from hydrodynamics. For the time integration of the potentially stiff moment equations we employ a scheme in which only the local source terms are treated implicitly, while the advection terms are kept explicit, thereby allowing for an efficient computational parallelization of the algorithm. We investigate various problem setups in one and two dimensions to verify the implementation and to test the quality of the algebraic closure scheme. In our most detailed test, we compare a fully dynamic, one-dimensional core-collapse simulation with two published calculations performed with well-known Boltzmann-type neutrino-hydrodynamics codes and we find very satisfactory agreement.