Hyperbolic conduction: a fast, physical conduction model implemented in smoothed particle hydrodynamics

ABSTRACT We present the first implementation of hyperbolic thermal conduction in smoothed particle hydrodynamics. Hyperbolic conduction is a physically motivated alternative to traditional, parabolic conduction. It incorporates a relaxation time, which ensures that heat propagates no faster than a physical signal speed. This allows for larger, Courant-like, time-steps for explicit schemes. Numerical solutions of the hyperbolic conduction equations require added dissipation to remain stable at discontinuities and we present a novel scheme for this. Test cases include a simple step, the Sod Shock Tube, the Sedov–Taylor blast, and a super bubble. We demonstrate how longer relaxation times limit conduction, recovering the purely hydrodynamical results, while short relaxation times converge on the parabolic conduction result. We demonstrate that our scheme is stable with explicit Courant-like time-steps and can be orders of magnitude faster than explicit parabolic conduction, depending on the application.