TY - JOUR
T1 - The stellar atmosphere simulation code Bifrost. Code description and validation
AU - Gudiksen, B.V.
AU - Carlsson, M.
AU - Hansteen, V.H.
AU - Hayek, W.
AU - Leenaarts, J.
AU - Martínez-Sykora, J.
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - Context. Numerical simulations of stellar convection and photospheres have been developed to the point where detailed shapes of
observed spectral lines can be explained. Stellar atmospheres are very complex, and very different physical regimes are present in the
convection zone, photosphere, chromosphere, transition region and corona. To understand the details of the atmosphere it is necessary
to simulate the whole atmosphere since the different layers interact strongly. These physical regimes are very diverse and it takes a
highly efficient massively parallel numerical code to solve the associated equations.
Aims. The design, implementation and validation of the massively parallel numerical code Bifrost for simulating stellar atmospheres
from the convection zone to the corona.
Methods. The code is subjected to a number of validation tests, among them the Sod shock tube test, the Orzag-Tang colliding shock
test, boundary condition tests and tests of how the code treats magnetic field advection, chromospheric radiation, radiative transfer in
an isothermal scattering atmosphere, hydrogen ionization and thermal conduction.
Results. Bifrost completes the tests with good results and shows near linear efficiency scaling to thousands of computing cores.
AB - Context. Numerical simulations of stellar convection and photospheres have been developed to the point where detailed shapes of
observed spectral lines can be explained. Stellar atmospheres are very complex, and very different physical regimes are present in the
convection zone, photosphere, chromosphere, transition region and corona. To understand the details of the atmosphere it is necessary
to simulate the whole atmosphere since the different layers interact strongly. These physical regimes are very diverse and it takes a
highly efficient massively parallel numerical code to solve the associated equations.
Aims. The design, implementation and validation of the massively parallel numerical code Bifrost for simulating stellar atmospheres
from the convection zone to the corona.
Methods. The code is subjected to a number of validation tests, among them the Sod shock tube test, the Orzag-Tang colliding shock
test, boundary condition tests and tests of how the code treats magnetic field advection, chromospheric radiation, radiative transfer in
an isothermal scattering atmosphere, hydrogen ionization and thermal conduction.
Results. Bifrost completes the tests with good results and shows near linear efficiency scaling to thousands of computing cores.
U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361/201116520
DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/201116520
M3 - Article
SN - 0004-6361
VL - 531
JO - Astronomy and Astrophysics
JF - Astronomy and Astrophysics
IS - A154
ER -