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Research Activities > Programs > Numerical Plasma Astrophysics



Numerical Methods for Plasma Astrophysics:
From Particle Kinetics to MHD

A Joint CSCAMM - PICSciE Program Spring 2004

Spring '04 Meeting: March 22-25, 2004
CSCAMM Seminar Room, University of Maryland, College Park
Fall '04 Meeting: October 25-28, 2004
PICSciE, 214 Fine Hall, Princeton University

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Related Links
PICSciE Fall 2004 Workshop Page CSCAMM Fall 2004 NPA04 Page

REGISTRATION REQUESTED

Due to space limitations, please register/RSVP at /programs/npa04/rsvp.htm


SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND

Most of the visible matter in the Universe is a plasma, that is a dilute gas of electrons, ions, and neutral particles. Numerical methods are the only viable way of studying the dynamics of astrophysical plasmas. Using numerical simulations, much progress has been made in recent years in understanding a variety of important problems, including the structure and evolution of accretion flows around compact objects such as neutron stars and black holes, and the decay rate and fluctuation statistics of compressible MHD turbulence. Almost without exception, such advances have used multidimensional MHD codes. However, for many astrophysical problems, the MHD approximation may not be valid. Examples include the dynamics of very dilute accretion flows, the dynamics of turbulent plasmas near the energy dissipation scale, or magnetic reconnection. In order to address fundamental problems in these areas, it will be necessary to move beyond the MHD approximation, and consider particle kinetics. However, a full time-dependent and multidimensional numerical solution to the Boltzmann equation is intractable in most circumstances, thus novel methods will be required.

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SCIENTIFIC CONTENT

The goal of this workshop is to bring together astrophysicists, plasma physicists, and applied mathematicians to discuss future developments in numerical methods for astrophysical plasmas. Topics to be covered include:

  1. reviews of the astrophysical problems that motivate future developments, including what we have learned from current techniques, and why we need new methods,
  2. reviews of modern methods for MHD, including adaptive mesh techniques for multiscale problems, and methods for non-ideal MHD, and
  3. reviews of modern methods for collisionless plasma dynamics that result from various approximations to the full collisionless Boltzmann equation. A key ingredient of the workshop is to engage plasma physicists and applied mathematicians with experience in plasma kinetics in the development of methods suitable for astrophysical plasmas.

ACTIVITIES

The format of the program calls for a limited number of formal presentations, and ample of time for informal interaction (and hopefully even some coding!).

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ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Name

Affiliation

Email

William Dorland CSCAMM and Physics, Univ. of Maryland
Jim Drake Physics/IPST, Univ. of Maryland
Bjorn Engquist PACM, Princeton University
James Stone Astrophysics, Princeton University
Eitan Tadmor CSCAMM, Math and IPST, Univ. of Maryland
William Tang PPPL, Princeton University

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INVITED PARTICIPANTS

Name

Affiliation

UCLA
UCLA
Universite Paul Sabatier
University of Maryland
University of Maryland
Princeton University
Univeristy of Illinois
Princeton University
Princeton University
University of Virginia
NASA
Princeton University
UCLA
University of Maryland
University of Maryland
University of Maryland
UC Berkeley
Princeton University
University of Maryland
UC Berkeley
Princeton University
University of Maryland
Princeton University
College of William and Mary

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SCHEDULE

Monday March 22                         Magnetohydrodynamics

9:00 - 9:15

COFFEE

MORNING SESSION   
Chair: Bill Dorland (University of Maryland)

9:15 - 9:30

Eitan Tadmor (University of Maryland), and James Stone (Princeton University)
Welcome Remarks

9:30 - 10:10
 

John Hawley (University of Virginia )
"MHD in Astrophysics"

10:15 - 10:55

Charles Gammie (University of Illinois)
"General Relativistic MHD"

11:00 - 11:30

COFFEE BREAK

11:30 - 12:10

Eitan Tadmor (University of Maryland)
"High Resolution Methods for Constrained Transport in MHD"

12:15 - 2:00

LUNCH HOSTED BY CSCAMM

AFTERNOON SESSION    Chair: Bill Dorland (University of Maryland)

2:00 - 4:30

DISCUSSION, AND TALKS BY:

Anatoly Spitkovsky (Stanford University)
"Simulations of Force-free Relativistic MHD"

David Levermore (University of Maryland)
"Gas Dynamics Beyond Navier-Stokes"

Tom Gardiner (Princeton University)
"Combining Godunov Schemes with Constrained Transport for MHD"

Angus Macnab (University of Maryland)
"Fluid Moment Closures Used in Lattice Boltzmann Methods for Landau Damping"

George Vahala (College of William and Mary)
"Quantum Lattice Representation of 1D MHD"

Gregory Howes (UCLA)
"Adaptive Particle Refinement"



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Tuesday March 23                         MHD with Kinetic Effects

9:00 - 9:30

COFFEE


MORNING SESSION    Chair: Jim Drake (University of Maryland) 

9:30 - 10:10
 

Steve Cowley (UCLA)
"Long Mean Free Path Physics and Magnetic Field Structure"

10:15 - 10:55

Greg Hammett (Princeton University)
"Kinetic MHD and Nonlocal Fluid Models of Long-Mean-Free Path Physics"

11:00 - 11:30

COFFEE BREAK

11:30 - 12:10

Yannis Kevrekidis (Princeton University)
"Recent Developments in Equation-free Complex Systems Modeling"

12:15 - 2:00

LUNCH BREAK


AFTERNOON SESSION    Chair: Jim Drake (University of Maryland) 

2:00 - 4:30
 

DISCUSSION, AND TALKS BY:

Prateek Sharma (Princeton University)
"Preliminary Studies of Kinetic Magnetorotational Instability with ZEUS"

Jean-Noel Leboeuf (UCLA)
"Adaptivity and closures in computer models of magnetically confined plasmas for fusion applications"

Jorge Balbas (UCLA)
"Central Schemes for Multi Dimensional MHD Equations"

Bill Dorland (University of Maryland)



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Wednesday March 24                         Kinetic Physics

9:00 - 9:30

COFFEE


MORNING SESSION    Chair: William Tang (Princeton University) 

9:30 - 10:10
 

Eliot Quataert (UC Berkeley )
"Kinetic Problems in Astrophysics"

10:15 - 10:55

Jim Drake (University of Maryland)
"Kinetic Modeling of Magnetic Field Dynamics in Space and Astrophysical Systems"

11:00 - 11:30

COFFEE BREAK

11:30 - 12:10

Pierre Degond (Universite Paul Sabatier)
"Instabilities of the Ionospheric Plasma"

12:15 - 2:00

LUNCH HOSTED BY CSCAMM


AFTERNOON SESSION    Chair: William Tang (Princeton University) 

2:00 - 4:30
 

DISCUSSION, AND TALKS BY:

Michael Hesse (NASA)
"Magnetic Reconnection for Moderate Guide Fields: Kinetic Physics and Simulation Requirements"

Mike Shay (University of Maryland)
"Magnetic Reconnection: Is MHD Adequate?"

Frank Waelbroeck (University of Texas)



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Thursday March 25                         Future Plans

9:00 - 9:30

COFFEE


MORNING SESSION    Chair: James Stone (Princeton University)  

9:30 - 12:00

Discussion and planning of follow-up meeting



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FUNDING

A limited amount of funding for participants at all levels is available, especially for researchers in the early stages of their career who want to attend the full program.


CONTACT

Center for Scientific Computation And Mathematical Modeling (CSCAMM)
Computer Science Instructional Center (Building #406)
University of Maryland, College Park
College Park, MD 20742-3289

Email:

Web: /programs/npa04