Corso di laurea in Fisica

Numerical simulations of strongly magnetized astrophysical environments are characterized by small discretization errors in the total energy, that can often lead to situations in which the gas pressure becomes negative.

However, a numerical scheme that is based on the evolution of the entropy (rather than the total energy) equation does not present such problems, although it breaks total energy conservation and it cannot be used to evolve shock waves.

Based on these premesis, the thesis aims at comparing the two methods in fluid configurations where the magnetic field dominates on the plasma such as astrophysical jet propagation or magnetized accretion flows around compact objects. To begin with, simple fluid instabilities (such as Kelvin-helmoholtz instabilities) will be considered.

The candidate should have a good knowledge of physics, fluid dynamics and electromagnetism. In addition, acquaintance with Linux environment is strongly recommended.