Speaker
Description
The high-resolution study of the large-scale structures (LSS) of the universe is one of the most intriguing frontiers in computational astrophysics and represents a crucial tool to support recent advancements in observations, especially in emission. In this context, we present the currently ongoing project of implementing cosmology on QUOKKA, a state-
of-the-art, GPU-optimized radiation-hydrodynamics (RHD) code built on the AMReX library, which handles adaptive mesh management. QUOKKA combines the piecewise parabolic method (PPM) in a method-of-lines formulation for the hydrodynamic solver with the variable Eddington tensor (VET) approach in the explicit-in-time evolution of the radiation moment equations, leveraging the reduced speed-of-light approximation. Many simulations have already taken advantage of the exquisite resolution and efficient scaling of the GPUs in this code, such as a series of studies on the multiphase galactic outflows. Despite the remarkable features and achievements of QUOKKA, a cosmological implementation is still missing; therefore, our ongoing work aims to robustly integrate it. Following the
preexisting modular philosophy, we developed a dedicated module that integrates directly with the solvers and time-step calculations. We accounted for the cosmic expansion on the comoving coordinates and we introduced Hubble drag for momentum and adiabatic cooling for internal energy as additional sources. Validation is currently underway; specifically, a Zel’dovich pancake test was introduced and cross-checked with the well-established ENZO analogous problem, showing good compatibility. Building upon these encouraging milestones, we plan to refine and fully harmonize this module, in view of a merging into the official public release of QUOKKA. This will open the path to observationally-motivated high-precision simulations of cosmic web filaments. By resolving the thermal and ionization states of these structures, we finally hope to provide a new tool to investigate the mysterious nature of dark matter and its influence on the earliest stages of structure formation.
| Parallel session | Astrophysical Probes of Dark Matter and Dark Energy |
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