Overview of the latest advances in Computational Astrophysics, Cristóbal Petrovich (DAA-PUC)

During early July I attended a summer school named Computational Astrophysics at the Institute for the Advanced Study in Princeton. Said school covered the most state-of-art numerical methods used in cosmology, general relativity, planet orbits, hydrodynamics ,and magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). The progress in this area has been remarkable; sophisticated algorithms that capture the observed physics and impressive resolution via the technological development make simulations an important tool for current astrophysics.
I will present a summary of the different techniques that I learnt and the context in which they may be used. Different astrophysical scenarios demand specific numerical approaches. They can be separated into two big approaches: kinematics-based (Lagrangian) and grid-based (Eulerian), and depending on the physical properties of the medium one of them is more accurate and/or faster. I will discuss some of the background ideas in each of these methods, show some of the open-source codes available for MHD, planet orbits, cosmology ,and plasma physics, and end with a brief discussion of their performance.

(Talk will be given in spanish/Charla se dictará en castellano)