Development and application of numerical techniques for general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations of black hole accretion

Development and application of numerical techniques for general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations of black hole accretion

White, Christopher Joseph

We describe the implementation of sophisticated numerical techniques for general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations in the Athena++ code framework. Improvements over many existing codes include the use of advanced Riemann solvers and of staggered-mesh constrained transport. Combined with considerations for computational performance and parallel scalability, these allow us to investigate black hole accretion flows with unprecedented accuracy. The capability of the code is demonstrated by exploring magnetically arrested disks.