A robust numerical scheme for highly compressible magnetohydrodynamics: Nonlinear stability, implementation and tests

The ideal MHD equations are a central model in astrophysics, and their solution relies upon stable numerical schemes. We present an implementation of a new method, which possesses excellent stability properties. Numerical tests demonstrate that the theoretical stability properties are valid in practice with negligible compromises to accuracy. The result is a highly robust scheme with state-of-the-art efficiency. The scheme's robustness is due to entropy stability, positivity and properly discretised Powell terms. The implementation takes the form of a modification of the MHD module in the FLASH code, an adaptive mesh refinement code. We compare the new scheme with the standard FLASH implementation for MHD. Results show comparable accuracy to standard FLASH with the Roe solver, but highly improved efficiency and stability, particularly for high Mach number flows and low plasma beta. The tests include 1D shock tubes, 2D instabilities and highly supersonic, 3D turbulence. We consider turbulent flows with RMS sonic Mach numbers up to 10, typical of gas flows in the interstellar medium. We investigate both strong initial magnetic fields and magnetic field amplification by the turbulent dynamo from extremely high plasma beta. The energy spectra show a reasonable decrease in dissipation with grid refinement, and at a resolution of 512(3) grid cells we identify a narrow inertial range with the expected power law scaling. The turbulent dynamo exhibits exponential growth of magnetic pressure, with the growth rate higher from solenoidal forcing than from compressive forcing. Two versions of the new scheme are presented, using relaxation-based 3-wave and 5-wave approximate Riemann solvers, respectively. The 5-wave solver is more accurate in some cases, and its computational cost is close to the 3-wave solver. (c) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.