Preliminary schedule for January-March 2021

Course Description

Advanced Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics
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The goal of the course is to understand:
(a) fluid dynamics and magnetohydrodynamics (MHD),
(b) waves and instabilities,
(c) global and local helioseismology,
(c) shocks, solar wind, accretion,
(d) fundamental aspects of turbulence and convection,
(e) dynamo theory, and
(f) numerical techniques for MHD and turbulence.

Course description:

Fluids in astrophysical environments
Energy conservation and shocks (+ computer session)
Stellar winds and blast waves
Thermal instability and Rayleigh-Benard convection
Thin accretion discs
Magnetic fields and conservation laws in MHD
Magnetosonic waves and magnetorotational instability (+ computer session)
Basic aspects of turbulence and turbulent structures
Cascades and cascade models of turbulence
Laminar and turbulent dynamos (+ computer session)
The chiral magnetic effect in relativistic fluids
Aspects of relativistic fluid dynamics
Driving gravitational waves from turbulence (+ computer session)

Computer sessions (using Pencil Code, optionally others) & Tutorials

Final assessment is based on homework and a project report.

Computer exercises:
waves and energy conservation,
dynamo and magnetic helicity,
Alfven waves, Parker wind,
magnetic relaxation, mean-field dynamo models,
inverse cascade from the chiral magnetic effect,
numerical gravitational wave experiments

Teachers:
Axel Brandenburg, and people from his group

Literature:
S.N. Shore: Astrophysical Hydrodynamics
A.R. Choudhuri: The Physics of Fluids and Plasmas

Examination:
The assessment will be based on weekly exercises, and a final report
summarizing the results from computer exercises.

Prerequisite:
Maxwell equations, basic fluid dynamics,
some familiarity with programming would be useful

Preliminary schedule: see
http://www.nordita.org/~brandenb/teach/AdvAstroFluids/