Three-dimensional MHD high-resolution computations with CWENO employing adaptive mesh refinement

Until recently, numerical simulations of discontinuities in highly super-Alfvenic plasmas have been severely limited by comparatively crude resolution and accuracy. Significant progress in the numerical simulation of such plasmas was achieved with the recently implemented Central Weighted Essentially Non-Oscillatory (CWENO) scheme. Combining this technique with that of adaptive mesh refinement (AMR), we have developed a third-order numerical scheme, which is able to efficiently capture strong gradients on spatial scales being small compared to the overall scale of the plasma system considered. Here, we first describe important algorithmic aspects of the scheme as well as the physics included in it. Second, we present the results of various performance tests. And, third, we illustrate its application to real world problems' using the example of the dynamics of a Sedov-type explosion. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.