Can particle hydrodynamics capture shocks and contact discontinuities without tuned artificial viscosity?

Godunov Density-Independent Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (GDISPH) combines a Riemann solver with a density-independent formulation.

Novel hydrodynamic schemes capturing shocks and contact discontinuities and comparison study with existing methods

Novel hydrodynamic schemes capturing shocks and contact discontinuities and comparison study with existing methods. Yuasa, Takuhiro; Mori, Masao, New Astronomy, 109, 102208 (2024).

arXiv:2312.03224 Publication · DOI

Approach

Several formulations are compared with existing SPH schemes using Riemann, pressure-equilibrium, Sedov–Taylor and Kelvin–Helmholtz tests.

Main result

Two GDISPH variants perform well on shocks and contact discontinuities. Case 1 offers the preferred balance without manually selected viscosity parameters or added numerical diffusion.

Scientific implications

The method addresses numerical surface tension and shock handling, both central to simulations of multiphase astrophysical gas.

Scope and limitations

The comparative advantage is established on the reported benchmark suite; performance in a specific galaxy simulation still depends on its physical and numerical setup.