Ultrarelativistic fluid dynamics

TL;DR

This paper introduces equations and a computational method for simulating ultrarelativistic fluid flows in critical gravitational collapse, focusing on spherically symmetric perfect fluids with specific equations of state.

Contribution

It presents the equations of motion and a high-resolution shock-capturing code for simulating relativistic fluid flows in critical collapse scenarios.

Findings

Development of a new simulation code for ultrarelativistic fluids.

Capability to model flows in critical solutions for Gamma <= 2.

Foundation for further analysis in subsequent papers.

Abstract

This is the first of two papers examining the critical collapse of spherically symmetric perfect fluids with the equation of state P = (Gamma -1)rho. Here we present the equations of motion and describe a computer code capable of simulating the extremely relativistic flows encountered in critical solutions for Gamma <= 2. The fluid equations are solved using a high-resolution shock-capturing scheme based on a linearized Riemann solver.