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Numerical and physical validation of Vlasiator : A new hybrid-Vlasov space plasma simulation code

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dc.date.accessioned 2012-10-23T06:00:12Z und
dc.date.accessioned 2017-10-24T12:04:49Z
dc.date.available 2012-10-23T06:00:12Z und
dc.date.available 2017-10-24T12:04:49Z
dc.date.issued 2012-10-23T06:00:12Z
dc.identifier.uri http://radr.hulib.helsinki.fi/handle/10138.1/2051 und
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10138.1/2051
dc.title Numerical and physical validation of Vlasiator : A new hybrid-Vlasov space plasma simulation code en
ethesis.department.URI http://data.hulib.helsinki.fi/id/3acb09b1-e6a2-4faa-b677-1a1b03285b66
ethesis.department Institutionen för fysik sv
ethesis.department Department of Physics en
ethesis.department Fysiikan laitos fi
ethesis.faculty Matematisk-naturvetenskapliga fakulteten sv
ethesis.faculty Matemaattis-luonnontieteellinen tiedekunta fi
ethesis.faculty Faculty of Science en
ethesis.faculty.URI http://data.hulib.helsinki.fi/id/8d59209f-6614-4edd-9744-1ebdaf1d13ca
ethesis.university.URI http://data.hulib.helsinki.fi/id/50ae46d8-7ba9-4821-877c-c994c78b0d97
ethesis.university Helsingfors universitet sv
ethesis.university University of Helsinki en
ethesis.university Helsingin yliopisto fi
dct.creator Kempf, Yann
dct.issued 2012
dct.language.ISO639-2 eng
dct.abstract Vlasiator is a new massively parallel hybrid-Vlasov simulation code being developed at the Finnish Meteorological Institute with the purpose of building new global magnetospheric model going beyond magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). It solves Vlasov's equation for the ion distribution function in the full six-dimensional phase space and describes the electrons as a massless charge neutralising fluid using the MHD equations, thus including ion kinetic effects. The Vlasov equation solver is based on a second-order, three-dimensional finite volume wave-propagation algorithm, making use of Strang splitting to separate translation in space from acceleration in velocity space. The electromagnetic fields are obtained through a second-order, finite volume upwind constrained transport method which conserves the divergence of the magnetic by construction. This work presents the numerical and physical validation tests developed and/or run by the author for Vlasiator, without however covering the technical aspects pertaining to implementation or parallelisation. The numerical quality of the solvers is being assessed for their isotropy, their conservation of div B = 0 and their order of accuracy in space and time. The physical validation tests include an assessment of the diffusive properties of the Vlasov solver, a brief discussion of results obtained from the Riemann problem displaying kinetic effects in the shock solution and finally dispersion plots for quasiperpendicular and quasiparallel wave modes are presented and discussed. The conclusions are that Vlasiator performs well and in line with the expected characteristics of the methods implemented, provided the resolution is good enough. In space, ion kinetic scales should be resolved for kinetic effects going beyond an MHD description to emerge. In velocity space the resolution should yield a smooth discretisation of the ion distribution function, otherwise spurious non-physical artefacts can crop up in the results. The higher-order correction terms included in the solvers ensure good orders of accuracy even for discontinuous solutions, the conservation of div B = 0 is provided up to floating-point accuracy and dispersion plots match remarkably well analytic solutions. en
dct.language en
ethesis.language.URI http://data.hulib.helsinki.fi/id/languages/eng
ethesis.language English en
ethesis.language englanti fi
ethesis.language engelska sv
ethesis.thesistype pro gradu-avhandlingar sv
ethesis.thesistype pro gradu -tutkielmat fi
ethesis.thesistype master's thesis en
ethesis.thesistype.URI http://data.hulib.helsinki.fi/id/thesistypes/mastersthesis
ethesis.degreeprogram Space Sciences en
dct.identifier.urn URN:NBN:fi-fe2017112252178
dc.type.dcmitype Text

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