scholarly journals Cosmological Magnetogenesis: The Biermann battery during the Epoch of Reionization

Author(s):  
Omar Attia ◽  
Romain Teyssier ◽  
Harley Katz ◽  
Taysun Kimm ◽  
Sergio Martin-Alvarez ◽  
...  

Abstract We investigate the effect of the Biermann battery during the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) using cosmological Adaptive Mesh Refinement simulations within the framework of the Sphinx project. We develop a novel numerical technique to solve for the Biermann battery term in the Constrained Transport method, preserving both the zero divergence of the magnetic field and the absence of Biermann battery for isothermal flows. The structure-preserving nature of our numerical method turns out to be very important to minimize numerical errors during validation tests of the propagation of a Str”omgren sphere and of a Sedov blast wave. We then use this new method to model the evolution of a 2.5 and 5 co-moving Mpc cosmological box with a state-of-the-art galaxy formation model within the Ramses code. Contrary to previous findings, we show that three different Biermann battery channels emerge: the first one is associated with linear perturbations before the EoR, the second one is the classical Biermann battery associated with reionization fronts during the EoR, and the third one is associated with strong, supernova-driven outflows. While the two former channels generate spontaneously volume-filling magnetic fields with a strength on the order or below 10−20 G, the latter, owing to the higher plasma temperature and a marginally-resolved turbulent dynamo, reaches a field strength as high as 10−18 G in the intergalactic medium around massive haloes.

2019 ◽  
Vol 629 ◽  
pp. A61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hector Olivares ◽  
Oliver Porth ◽  
Jordy Davelaar ◽  
Elias R. Most ◽  
Christian M. Fromm ◽  
...  

Context. Worldwide very long baseline radio interferometry (VLBI) arrays are expected to obtain horizon-scale images of supermassive black hole candidates and of relativistic jets in several nearby active galactic nuclei. This, together with the expected detection of electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational-wave signals, motivates the development of models for magnetohydrodynamic flows in strong gravitational fields. Aims. The Black Hole Accretion Code (BHAC) is a publicliy available code intended to aid with the modeling of such sources by performing general relativistic magnetohydrodynamical simulations in arbitrary stationary spacetimes. New additions to the code are required in order to guarantee an accurate evolution of the magnetic field when small and large scales are captured simultaneously. Methods. We discuss the adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) techniques employed in BHAC, which are essential to keep several problems computationally tractable, as well as staggered-mesh-based constrained transport (CT) algorithms to preserve the divergence-free constraint of the magnetic field. We also present a general class of prolongation operators for face-allocated variables compatible with them. Results. After presenting several standard tests for the new implementation, we show that the choice of the divergence-control method can produce qualitative differences in the simulation results for scientifically relevant accretion problems. We demonstrate the ability of AMR to decrease the computational costs of black hole accretion simulations while sufficiently resolving turbulence arising from the magnetorotational instability. In particular, we describe a simulation of an accreting Kerr black hole in Cartesian coordinates using AMR to follow the propagation of a relativistic jet while self-consistently including the jet engine, a problem set up for which the new AMR implementation is particularly advantageous. Conclusions. The CT methods and AMR strategies discussed here are currently being used in the simulations performed with BHAC for the generation of theoretical models for the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration.


2020 ◽  
Vol 501 (2) ◽  
pp. 1755-1765
Author(s):  
Andrew Pontzen ◽  
Martin P Rey ◽  
Corentin Cadiou ◽  
Oscar Agertz ◽  
Romain Teyssier ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We introduce a new method to mitigate numerical diffusion in adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) simulations of cosmological galaxy formation, and study its impact on a simulated dwarf galaxy as part of the ‘EDGE’ project. The target galaxy has a maximum circular velocity of $21\, \mathrm{km}\, \mathrm{s}^{-1}$ but evolves in a region that is moving at up to $90\, \mathrm{km}\, \mathrm{s}^{-1}$ relative to the hydrodynamic grid. In the absence of any mitigation, diffusion softens the filaments feeding our galaxy. As a result, gas is unphysically held in the circumgalactic medium around the galaxy for $320\, \mathrm{Myr}$, delaying the onset of star formation until cooling and collapse eventually triggers an initial starburst at z = 9. Using genetic modification, we produce ‘velocity-zeroed’ initial conditions in which the grid-relative streaming is strongly suppressed; by design, the change does not significantly modify the large-scale structure or dark matter accretion history. The resulting simulation recovers a more physical, gradual onset of star formation starting at z = 17. While the final stellar masses are nearly consistent ($4.8 \times 10^6\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$ and $4.4\times 10^6\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$ for unmodified and velocity-zeroed, respectively), the dynamical and morphological structure of the z = 0 dwarf galaxies are markedly different due to the contrasting histories. Our approach to diffusion suppression is suitable for any AMR zoom cosmological galaxy formation simulations, and is especially recommended for those of small galaxies at high redshift.


2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S254) ◽  
pp. 445-452
Author(s):  
Brad K. Gibson ◽  
Stéphanie Courty ◽  
Patricia Sánchez-Blázquez ◽  
Romain Teyssier ◽  
Elisa L. House ◽  
...  

AbstractTo date, fully cosmological hydrodynamic disk simulations to redshift zero have only been undertaken with particle-based codes, such as GADGET, Gasoline, or GCD+. In light of the (supposed) limitations of traditional implementations of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), or at the very least, their respective idiosyncrasies, it is important to explore complementary approaches to the SPH paradigm to galaxy formation. We present the first high-resolution cosmological disk simulations to redshift zero using an adaptive mesh refinement (AMR)-based hydrodynamical code, in this case, RAMSES. We analyse the temporal and spatial evolution of the simulated stellar disks' vertical heating, velocity ellipsoids, stellar populations, vertical and radial abundance gradients (gas and stars), assembly/infall histories, warps/lopsideness, disk edges/truncations (gas and stars), ISM physics implementations, and compare and contrast these properties with our sample of cosmological SPH disks, generated with GCD+. These preliminary results are the first in our long-term Galactic Archaeology Simulation program.


2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S277) ◽  
pp. 263-266
Author(s):  
Bruno Thooris ◽  
Daniel Pomarède

AbstractOur understanding of the structuring of the Universe from large-scale cosmological structures down to the formation of galaxies now largely benefits from numerical simulations. The RAMSES code, relying on the Adaptive Mesh Refinement technique, is used to perform massively parallel simulations at multiple scales. The interactive, immersive, three-dimensional visualization of such complex simulations is a challenge that is addressed using the SDvision software package. Several rendering techniques are available, including ray-casting and isosurface reconstruction, to explore the simulated volumes at various resolution levels and construct temporal sequences. These techniques are illustrated in the context of different classes of simulations. We first report on the visualization of the HORIZON Galaxy Formation Simulation at MareNostrum, a cosmological simulation with detailed physics at work in the galaxy formation process. We then carry on in the context of an intermediate zoom simulation leading to the formation of a Milky-Way like galaxy. Finally, we present a variety of simulations of interacting galaxies, including a case-study of the Antennae Galaxies interaction.


2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (S299) ◽  
pp. 131-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Åke Nordlund ◽  
Troels Haugbølle ◽  
Michael Küffmeier ◽  
Paolo Padoan ◽  
Aris Vasileiades

AbstractWe use the adaptive mesh refinement code RAMSES to model the formation of protoplanetary disks in realistic star formation environments. The resolution scales over up to 29 powers of two (~ 9 orders of magnitude) covering a range from outer scales of 40 pc to inner scales of 0.015 AU. The accretion rate from a 1.5 solar mass envelope peaks near 10−4 M⊙ about 6 kyr after sink particle formation and then decays approximately exponentially, reaching 10−6 M⊙ in 100 kyr. The models suggest universal scalings of physical properties with radius during the main accretion phase, with kinetic and / or magnetic energy in approximate balance with gravitational energy. Efficient accretion is made possible by the braking action of the magnetic field, which nevertheless allows a near-Keplerian disk to grow to a 100 AU size. The magnetic field strength ranges from more than 10 G at 0.1 AU to less than 1 mG at 100 AU, and drives a time dependent bipolar outflow, with a collimated jet and a broader disk wind.


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