Collaborative Research: Simulating Two-Fluid MHD Turbulence in Star Forming Molecular Clouds on the Blue Waters System

Dinshaw Balsara, University of Notre Dame

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Astrophysics is at the threshold of a new data-rich and simulation-rich era in star-formation studies. The question of how stars form is fascinating in itself and has a great impact on several other areas of astrophysics. There is a general consensus that a predominant amount of star formation in our galaxy takes place in molecular clouds, and specifically in giant molecular clouds. Consequently, NASA has made multi-million dollar investments in instruments such as HAWC+ on the SOFIA airborne observatory with the specific goal of understanding the turbulent nature of star forming clouds. This project on Blue Waters will use the petascale capabilities of the system to validate theories of star formation by simulating the same processes the NASA's instruments are currently measuring.

This project will carry out simulations on Blue Waters that integrate the ions and the neutrals to reproduce the turbulent, partially ionized gas in which stars form. Since neutral gas does not couple to the magnetic field, but ionized gas do, the project has built frontline simulation capabilities for simulating two-fluid plasmas. Simultaneously, the project has built theoretical and numerical analysis tools that will enable cross-comparison of simulations with observations. This cross-comparison provides important verification of theories of star formation. Further diagnostics that emerge from the simulations will also be used to motivate more detailed observations. In this fashion, Blue Waters will enable theory, computation and detailed observations to support one another. In addition, the project intends to combine education in computational astrophysics with code releases of their simulation tools to the greater astrophysics community.