AN IMPLICIT METHOD FOR 2-DIMENSIONAL HYDRODYNAMICS

An implicit method for compressible multidimensional flows is presented. The method, which is strongly oriented toward astrophysical applications, enables one to simulate very subsonic flows by removing the Courant condition upon time steps. It consists of an implicit purely Lagrangian step, followed by an explicit and second-order accurate (at least in one dimension) remapping step, which is optional. When the remapping step is performed the time step is limited by the ''particle crossing time'' and otherwise it is limited only by accuracy considerations. The suggested method, which results from a compromise between accuracy and efficiency, is very efficient relative to other methods. It enables the computation of many multidimensional problems in stellar evolution, such as those governed by very subsonic flows, which were not calculable with existing explicit methods.