Numerical modeling of magnetosonic shocks: the Boris correction

We created a numerical code to perform one-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations of semi-relativistic shocks.

Under the supervision of Prof. Fernando Moreno-Insertis I developed from scratch a Python numerical code to perform simulations, starting from the ideal fluid equations and working our way up to magnetized fluids in a semi-relativistic regime. I learned the complexities of numerical codes, the importance of benchmark tests, and the elegance of simple ideas to prove complex phenomena.

We evaluated a method used by some authors to speed calculations by artificially reducing the speed of light and we concluded that it leads to altered simulation results when strong shocks are involved.

The work can be seen published in the Universidad de La Laguna’s institutional repository: https://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/33125, and is attached below.