Other
Scientific paper
Jan 1995
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1995phdt........12r&link_type=abstract
Thesis (PH.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL, 1995.Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56
Other
Magnetohydrodynamics, Hydrodynamics
Scientific paper
We describe herein the development and testing of a two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) code. In particular, we describe in detail a covariant implementation of well established Eulerian hydrodynamics (HD) algorithms, which form the basis of the MHD algorithms. Our MHD algorithms rely on a constrained transport (CT) scheme to calculate magnetic field components that satisfy the divergence-free magnetic constraint. This scheme is discussed, and a method -of-characteristics (MOC) scheme is presented that, together with CT, is able to propagate stably all MHD wave families. Additionally, we present a radiative cooling (and heating) algorithm together with a series of test problems that illustrate several general aspects of implementing cooling (heating) on a numerical grid when strong radiative shocks are present. As an application of our MHD code, and strongly motivated by the recent discovery of a new class of pulsar systems, we have undertaken a numerical study of the hydrodynamic interaction of pulsar winds and the winds associated with OB stars. In an effort to model these winds more realistically, we present a two-fluid approach in which the winds are emitted from gravitating sources, and in which the wind from the OB star may radiatively cool. We find a smooth transition between two extremes in these flows. In one extreme, the contact discontinuity between the two winds may exhibit local Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities, and yet remain globally stable to accretion onto the pulsar. In the other extreme, we find that the contact becomes unstable to Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities, so that the pulsar wind is unable to prevent the stellar wind from accreting. The character of the instability in this latter regime is different between adiabatic and cooling flows. The transition is governed by a parameter which is a function of the relative strength of the two winds. Some of the results of our numerical study will be discussed in the context of this new class of pulsar systems.
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