Resolution criteria to avoid artificial clumping in Lagrangian hydrodynamic simulations with a multi-phase interstellar medium

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ploeckinger, Sylvia, Nobels, Folkert S. J., Schaller, Matthieu, Schaye, Joop
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866913234759450624
author Ploeckinger, Sylvia
Nobels, Folkert S. J.
Schaller, Matthieu
Schaye, Joop
author_facet Ploeckinger, Sylvia
Nobels, Folkert S. J.
Schaller, Matthieu
Schaye, Joop
contents Large-scale cosmological galaxy formation simulations typically prevent gas in the interstellar medium (ISM) from cooling below $\approx 10^4$ K. This has been motivated by the inability to resolve the Jeans mass in molecular gas (>>$10^5\,\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$) which would result in undesired artificial clumping. We show that the classical Jeans criteria derived for Newtonian gravity are not applicable in the simulated ISM if the spacing of resolution elements representing the dense ISM is below the gravitational force softening length and gravity is therefore softened and not Newtonian. We re-derive the Jeans criteria for softened gravity in Lagrangian codes and use them to analyse gravitational instabilities at and below the hydrodynamical resolution limit for simulations with adaptive and constant gravitational softening lengths. In addition, we define criteria for which a numerical runaway collapse of dense gas clumps can occur caused by over-smoothing of the hydrodynamical properties relative to the gravitational force resolution. This effect is illustrated using simulations of isolated disk galaxies with the smoothed particle hydrodynamics code Swift. We also demonstrate how to avoid the formation of artificial clumps in gas and stars by adjusting the gravitational and hydrodynamical force resolutions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2310_10721
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Resolution criteria to avoid artificial clumping in Lagrangian hydrodynamic simulations with a multi-phase interstellar medium
Ploeckinger, Sylvia
Nobels, Folkert S. J.
Schaller, Matthieu
Schaye, Joop
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Large-scale cosmological galaxy formation simulations typically prevent gas in the interstellar medium (ISM) from cooling below $\approx 10^4$ K. This has been motivated by the inability to resolve the Jeans mass in molecular gas (>>$10^5\,\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$) which would result in undesired artificial clumping. We show that the classical Jeans criteria derived for Newtonian gravity are not applicable in the simulated ISM if the spacing of resolution elements representing the dense ISM is below the gravitational force softening length and gravity is therefore softened and not Newtonian. We re-derive the Jeans criteria for softened gravity in Lagrangian codes and use them to analyse gravitational instabilities at and below the hydrodynamical resolution limit for simulations with adaptive and constant gravitational softening lengths. In addition, we define criteria for which a numerical runaway collapse of dense gas clumps can occur caused by over-smoothing of the hydrodynamical properties relative to the gravitational force resolution. This effect is illustrated using simulations of isolated disk galaxies with the smoothed particle hydrodynamics code Swift. We also demonstrate how to avoid the formation of artificial clumps in gas and stars by adjusting the gravitational and hydrodynamical force resolutions.
title Resolution criteria to avoid artificial clumping in Lagrangian hydrodynamic simulations with a multi-phase interstellar medium
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.10721