An Extension of the Athena++ Code Framework for Radiation-magnetohydrodynamics in General Relativity Using a Finite-solid-angle Discretization

Christopher J. White, Patrick D. Mullen, Yan Fei Jiang, Shane W. Davis, James M. Stone, Viktoriya Morozova, Lizhong Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

We extend the general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) capabilities of Athena++ to incorporate radiation. The intensity field in each finite-volume cell is discretized in angle, with explicit transport in both space and angle properly accounting for the effects of gravity on null geodesics, and with matter and radiation coupled in a locally implicit fashion. Here we describe the numerical procedure in detail, verifying its correctness with a suite of tests. Motivated in particular by black hole accretion in the high-accretion-rate, thin-disk regime, we demonstrate the application of the method to this problem. With excellent scaling on flagship computing clusters, the port of the algorithm to the GPU-enabled AthenaK code now allows the simulation of many previously intractable radiation-GRMHD systems.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number103
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume949
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1 2023

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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