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Title: Dynamics in a stellar convective layer and at its boundary: Comparison of five 3D hydrodynamics codes

Abstract

Our ability to predict the structure and evolution of stars is in part limited by complex, 3D hydrodynamic processes such as convective boundary mixing. Hydrodynamic simulations help us understand the dynamics of stellar convection and convective boundaries. However, the codes used to compute such simulations are usually tested on extremely simple problems and the reliability and reproducibility of their predictions for turbulent flows is unclear. We define a test problem involving turbulent convection in a plane-parallel box, which leads to mass entrainment from, and internal-wave generation in, a stably stratified layer. We compare the outputs from the codes FLASH, MUSIC, PPMSTAR, PROMPI, and SLH, which have been widely employed to study hydrodynamic problems in stellar interiors. The convection is dominated by the largest scales that fit into the simulation box. All time-averaged profiles of velocity components, fluctuation amplitudes, and fluxes of enthalpy and kinetic energy are within ≲3σ of the mean of all simulations on a given grid (1283 and 2563 grid cells), where σ describes the statistical variation due to the flow’s time dependence. They also agree well with a 5123 reference run. The 1283 and 2563 simulations agree within 9% and 4%, respectively, on the total mass entrainedmore » into the convective layer. The entrainment rate appears to be set by the amount of energy that can be converted to work in our setup and details of the small-scale flows in the boundary layer seem to be largely irrelevant. Our results lend credence to hydrodynamic simulations of flows in stellar interiors. We provide in electronic form all outputs of our simulations as well as all information needed to reproduce or extend our study.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [4]; ORCiD logo [8];  [9];  [4];  [10];  [11];  [1];  [12];  [13];  [14];  [3];  [12] more »;  [2] « less
  1. Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (Germany)
  2. Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
  3. Keele Univ. (United Kingdom)
  4. Univ. of Exeter (United Kingdom)
  5. Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)
  6. University of Exeter; Univ. of Lyon (France)
  7. Monash Univ., Melbourne, VIC (Australia); 8 ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in Three Dimensions (Australia)
  8. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  9. Univ. of Warwick, Coventry (United Kingdom)
  10. Univ. of Victoria, BC (Canada); Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics - Center for the Evolution of the Elements, East Lansing, MI (United States)
  11. Keele Univ. (United Kingdom); Univ. of Tokyo (Japan)
  12. Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (Germany); Univ. of Heidelberg (Germany)
  13. Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); Pasadena Consulting Group, Pasadena, CA (United States)
  14. Georgia State Univ., Atlanta, GA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); Klaus Tschira Foundation; German Research Foundation (DFG); Gauss Centre for Supercomputing; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC); European Research Council (ERC); Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC); World Premier International Research Centre; European Cooperation in Science and Technology; European Union’s Horizon 2020; BIS National E Infrastructure; Australian Research Council
OSTI Identifier:
1865013
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-21-25840
Journal ID: ISSN 0004-6361; TRN: US2305814
Grant/Contract Number:  
89233218CNA000001; RO3676/3-1; EXC 2181/1 – 390900948; PHY-1430152; 1814181; 2032010; 787361-COBOM; ST/R000395/1; ST/K000373/1; ST/R002363/1; ST/R00103/1; OISE-1927130; 101008324; ST/P002293/1; ST/R002371/1; ST/R000832/1; ST/K00042X/1; ST/H008519/1; ST/K00087X/1; ST/K003267/1; FT160100046: DP190102431
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 659; Journal ID: ISSN 0004-6361
Publisher:
EDP Sciences
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; hydrodynamics; convection; turbulence; stars; numerical

Citation Formats

Andrassy, Robert, Higl, Johann, Mao, Huaqing, Mocák, Miroslav, Vlaykov, Dimitar G., Arnett, W. D., Baraffe, Isabelle, Campbell, Simon W., Constantino, Thomas, Edelmann, Philipp Valentin Ferdinand, Goffrey, Thomas, Guillet, Thomas, Herwig, Falk, Hirschi, Raphael, Horst, Leonhard, Leidi, Giovanni, Meakin, C., Pratt, Jane, Rizzuti, F., Röpke, Friedrich K., and Woodward, Paul. Dynamics in a stellar convective layer and at its boundary: Comparison of five 3D hydrodynamics codes. United States: N. p., 2022. Web. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202142557.
Andrassy, Robert, Higl, Johann, Mao, Huaqing, Mocák, Miroslav, Vlaykov, Dimitar G., Arnett, W. D., Baraffe, Isabelle, Campbell, Simon W., Constantino, Thomas, Edelmann, Philipp Valentin Ferdinand, Goffrey, Thomas, Guillet, Thomas, Herwig, Falk, Hirschi, Raphael, Horst, Leonhard, Leidi, Giovanni, Meakin, C., Pratt, Jane, Rizzuti, F., Röpke, Friedrich K., & Woodward, Paul. Dynamics in a stellar convective layer and at its boundary: Comparison of five 3D hydrodynamics codes. United States. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202142557
Andrassy, Robert, Higl, Johann, Mao, Huaqing, Mocák, Miroslav, Vlaykov, Dimitar G., Arnett, W. D., Baraffe, Isabelle, Campbell, Simon W., Constantino, Thomas, Edelmann, Philipp Valentin Ferdinand, Goffrey, Thomas, Guillet, Thomas, Herwig, Falk, Hirschi, Raphael, Horst, Leonhard, Leidi, Giovanni, Meakin, C., Pratt, Jane, Rizzuti, F., Röpke, Friedrich K., and Woodward, Paul. Mon . "Dynamics in a stellar convective layer and at its boundary: Comparison of five 3D hydrodynamics codes". United States. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202142557. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1865013.
@article{osti_1865013,
title = {Dynamics in a stellar convective layer and at its boundary: Comparison of five 3D hydrodynamics codes},
author = {Andrassy, Robert and Higl, Johann and Mao, Huaqing and Mocák, Miroslav and Vlaykov, Dimitar G. and Arnett, W. D. and Baraffe, Isabelle and Campbell, Simon W. and Constantino, Thomas and Edelmann, Philipp Valentin Ferdinand and Goffrey, Thomas and Guillet, Thomas and Herwig, Falk and Hirschi, Raphael and Horst, Leonhard and Leidi, Giovanni and Meakin, C. and Pratt, Jane and Rizzuti, F. and Röpke, Friedrich K. and Woodward, Paul},
abstractNote = {Our ability to predict the structure and evolution of stars is in part limited by complex, 3D hydrodynamic processes such as convective boundary mixing. Hydrodynamic simulations help us understand the dynamics of stellar convection and convective boundaries. However, the codes used to compute such simulations are usually tested on extremely simple problems and the reliability and reproducibility of their predictions for turbulent flows is unclear. We define a test problem involving turbulent convection in a plane-parallel box, which leads to mass entrainment from, and internal-wave generation in, a stably stratified layer. We compare the outputs from the codes FLASH, MUSIC, PPMSTAR, PROMPI, and SLH, which have been widely employed to study hydrodynamic problems in stellar interiors. The convection is dominated by the largest scales that fit into the simulation box. All time-averaged profiles of velocity components, fluctuation amplitudes, and fluxes of enthalpy and kinetic energy are within ≲3σ of the mean of all simulations on a given grid (1283 and 2563 grid cells), where σ describes the statistical variation due to the flow’s time dependence. They also agree well with a 5123 reference run. The 1283 and 2563 simulations agree within 9% and 4%, respectively, on the total mass entrained into the convective layer. The entrainment rate appears to be set by the amount of energy that can be converted to work in our setup and details of the small-scale flows in the boundary layer seem to be largely irrelevant. Our results lend credence to hydrodynamic simulations of flows in stellar interiors. We provide in electronic form all outputs of our simulations as well as all information needed to reproduce or extend our study.},
doi = {10.1051/0004-6361/202142557},
journal = {Astronomy and Astrophysics},
number = ,
volume = 659,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Mar 28 00:00:00 EDT 2022},
month = {Mon Mar 28 00:00:00 EDT 2022}
}

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