Magnetohydrodynamic Modeling of Solar System Processes on Geodesic Grids

This report describes a new magnetohydrodynamic numerical model based on a hexagonal spherical geodesic grid. The model is designed to simulate astrophysical flows of partially ionized plasmas around a central compact object, such as a star or a planet with a magnetic field. The geodesic grid, produced by a recursive subdivision of a base platonic solid (an icosahedron), is free from control volume singularities inherent in spherical polar grids. Multiple populations of plasma and neutral particles, coupled via charge–exchange interactions, can be simulated simultaneously with this model. Our numerical scheme uses piecewise linear reconstruction on a surface of a sphere in a local two-dimensional "Cartesian" frame. The code employs Haarten–Lax–van-Leer-type approximate Riemann solvers and includes facilities to control the divergence of the magnetic field and maintain pressure positivity. Several test solutions are discussed, including a problem of an interaction between the solar wind and the local interstellar medium, and a simulation of Earth's magnetosphere.