Non-conservation of linear momentum in widely used hierarchical methods in gravitational gas dynamics

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Potashov, M. Sh., Yudin, A. V.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866909473628487680
author Potashov, M. Sh.
Yudin, A. V.
author_facet Potashov, M. Sh.
Yudin, A. V.
contents The paper considers the implementation of the fast multipole method (FMM) in the PHANTOM code for the calculation of forces in a self-gravitating system. The gravitational interaction forces are divided into short-range and long-range interactions depending on the value of the tree opening parameter of the hierarchical kd-tree. It is demonstrated that Newton's third law holds for any pair of cells of the kd-tree engaged in mutual interaction. However, for the entire system a linear momentum is not conserved. As a result, there is an unphysical force that causes the center of mass to migrate. For example, for a pair of neutron stars, the displacement of the system's center of mass is found to be comparable to the radii of the objects at times of a few tens of Keplerian revolutions. This displacement cannot be reduced by increasing the number of particles for values of the tree opening parameter greater than 0.2. For smaller values, the time required for the calculation is significantly longer.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_01496
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Non-conservation of linear momentum in widely used hierarchical methods in gravitational gas dynamics
Potashov, M. Sh.
Yudin, A. V.
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Computational Physics
The paper considers the implementation of the fast multipole method (FMM) in the PHANTOM code for the calculation of forces in a self-gravitating system. The gravitational interaction forces are divided into short-range and long-range interactions depending on the value of the tree opening parameter of the hierarchical kd-tree. It is demonstrated that Newton's third law holds for any pair of cells of the kd-tree engaged in mutual interaction. However, for the entire system a linear momentum is not conserved. As a result, there is an unphysical force that causes the center of mass to migrate. For example, for a pair of neutron stars, the displacement of the system's center of mass is found to be comparable to the radii of the objects at times of a few tens of Keplerian revolutions. This displacement cannot be reduced by increasing the number of particles for values of the tree opening parameter greater than 0.2. For smaller values, the time required for the calculation is significantly longer.
title Non-conservation of linear momentum in widely used hierarchical methods in gravitational gas dynamics
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Computational Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.01496