Three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics simulations of relativistic heavy-ion collisions with a black-hole accretion code adapted for quark-gluon plasma (BHAC-QGP). I. Methods and tests

We present bhac-qgp, a new numerical code to simulate the evolution of matter created in heavy-ion collisions in the presence of electromagnetic fields. It is derived from the Black Hole Accretion Code (BHAC), which has been designed to model astrophysical processes in a general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamical description. As the original Black Hole Accretion Code, BHAC QGP benefits from the use of adaptive mesh refinement, which allows us to dynamically adjust the resolution where necessary and makes use of time-dependent Milne coordinates and the ultrarelativistic equation of state, 𝑃=𝑒/3. We demonstrate that bhac-qgp accurately passes a number of systematic and rigorous tests.