A test of the Dedalus software for exoplanet atmospheric dynamics

TL;DR

This paper evaluates Dedalus3, a spectral method software, for simulating exoplanet atmospheric dynamics using shallow-water equations, demonstrating its potential and limitations through various tests and applications.

Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive assessment of Dedalus3's capabilities in modeling planetary atmospheric flows and explores its application to different exoplanet scenarios.

Findings

Dedalus3 effectively simulates jet instabilities.

The software can model nonlinear evolution of planetary jets.

Careful testing is essential for accurate results.

Abstract

Studying exoplanet flow and variability requires solving atmospheric dynamics equations accurately. Here we use the shallow-water equations to evaluate and employ Dedalus3, a spectral method-based software package for solving differential equations. A well-known jet instability test is used for the evaluation; then, the package is used to investigate the nonlinear evolution of observed, Jupiter's zonal (east--west) jets; finally, the package is used to compare hot-Jupiter flows with different initial conditions. Our results indicate that Dedalus3 can be a useful tool for investigating planetary flow dynamics, but careful testing and execution are necessary for each problem.