Cosmology on a Moving Mesh

Lars Hernquist (CfA)

Understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies in a
cosmological context using numerical simulations remains an elusive
goal. In this talk, I describe a new approach to modeling the
hydrodynamics of galaxy formation in which the equations of motion are
solved on a moving mesh. The use of a moving mesh makes the scheme
fully Lagrangian, unlike popular particle-based codes which are
quasi-Lagrangian in nature, and mitigates against advection errors
when a spatially fixed grid is used. I present results from an
initial study comparing results for a moving mesh with those obtained
using a smoothed particle hydrodynamics solver. This preliminary work
suggests that the new approach offers promise for resolving the
long-standing problems which have plagued this field for nearly two
decades.