Data Structures

All of the routines in this software package are standardized so that you interact with them using the same type of data structure, a C++ struct.

EOS

eos_t

The main data structure for interacting with the EOS is eos_t. This is a collection of data specifying the microphysical state of the fluid that we are evaluating. This has many components. For a particular instantiation named eos_state, the most important data is the following:

  • eos_state.rho : density [\(\mathrm{g~cm^{-3}}\)]

  • eos_state.T : temperature [K]

  • eos_state.p : pressure [\(\mathrm{erg~cm^{-3}}\)]

  • eos_state.e : specific internal energy [\(\mathrm{erg~g^{-1}}\)]

  • eos_state.h : specific enthalpy [\(\mathrm{erg~g^{-1}}\)]

  • eos_state.s : specific entropy [\(\mathrm{erg~g^{-1}~K^{-1}}\)]

  • eos_state.xn[] : mass fractions of species (this is an array, dimensioned to be the number of species, NumSpec )

  • eos_state.aux[] : any auxiliary variables carried with the fluid (this is an array, dimensioned to be the number of auxiliary quantities, NumAux )

Note that both NumSpec and NumAux are meant to be properties of the network, and they will come in through the network_properties.H header file.

There is a lot more information that can be saved here, such as the partial derivatives of the thermodynamic state variables with respect to each other. To see a complete list, examine the eos_type.H file: Castro/Microphysics/interfaces/eos_type.H.

Networks

burn_t

The main data structure for interacting with the reaction networks is burn_t. This holds the composition (mass fractions), thermodynamic state, and a lot of internal information used by the reaction network (e.g. the righthand side of the ODEs, the Jacobian, etc.). Typically the user will only need to fill/use the following information:

  • burn_state.rho: density [\(\mathrm{g~cm^{-3}}\)]

  • burn_state.T: temperature [K]

  • burn_state.e: the specific internal energy [\(\mathrm{erg~g^{-1}}\)]

    Note: this has two different contexts, depending on when it is accessed.

    When you call the integrator and are in the process of integrating the reaction system, e will be an integration variable and will account for the nuclear energy release. It will also be used to derive the temperature via the EOS.

    Upon exit of the integration, the initial internal energy (offset) is subtracted off, and e now represents the specific nuclear energy release from the reactions.

  • burn_state.xn[]: the mass fractions

  • burn_state.aux[]: any auxiliary quantities (like \(Y_e\))

  • burn_state.i, .j, .k: hydrodynamic zone i, j, k for bug reporting, diagnostics

  • burn_state.time: the time since the start of the integration [s]

    Note this is not the same as the simulation time. Each integrator will also store the simulation time at the start of integration in their local storage—this can be used as an offset to convert between integration and simulation time.

rate_t, rate_fr_t

The rate_t structure is used internally in a network to pass the raw reaction rate information (usually just the temperature-dependent terms) between various subroutines. It does not come out of the network-specific righthand side or Jacobian routines.

burn_type.H

In addition to defining the burn_t type, the header burn_type.H also defines integer indices into the solution vector that can be used to access the different components of the state:

  • neqs : the total number of variables we are integrating.

    It is assumed that the first nspec are the species.

  • net_ienuc : the index of the specific internal energy in the solution vector

Integrators

Each integrator also has their own internal data structure that holds the information needed for the integration. Meta-data that is not part of the integration vector of ODEs, but is attached to a particular state (\(X_k\), \(T\), \(e\)), is stored in the burn_t and can be passed into the righthand side routine.

Converting Between Types

There is significant overlap between eos_t and burn_t. The burn_type.H header two routines, burn_to_eos and eos_to_burn that convert a burn_t state to an eos_t state, and back. Only the thermodynamic variables that are common in the two types are copied. This is useful, for example, if you have a burn_t state and what to get thermodynamic information by calling the EOS.