The impact of community software in astrophysics

A. Dubey, M. J. Turk, B. W. O'Shea

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Advances in mathematical models and numerical algorithms combined with increasing reliance on simulations for understanding multi-physics and multi-scale phenomena has made the task of software development for simulations a large and complex enterprise. Development and adoption of community codes is one way to address this challenge. The astrophysics community has been ahead of many other science communities in making research codes publicly available, and therefore in the development and adoption of community codes. ZEUS-2D was one of the earliest codes to become public, and it has been followed by several others. In this paper, we highlight the impact of three of these packages - FLASH, Enzo and yt - on the astrophysics community. These, and similar projects in other fields, show that if reliable and robust codes exist, and efforts are made to promote their use, they facilitate higher overall scientific output. They also help foster open science in their corresponding communities, which has wide-ranging benefits.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication11th World Congress on Computational Mechanics, WCCM 2014, 5th European Conference on Computational Mechanics, ECCM 2014 and 6th European Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics, ECFD 2014
EditorsEugenio Onate, Xavier Oliver, Antonio Huerta
PublisherInternational Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering
Pages1813-1820
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)9788494284472
StatePublished - Jul 1 2014
Externally publishedYes
EventJoint 11th World Congress on Computational Mechanics, WCCM 2014, the 5th European Conference on Computational Mechanics, ECCM 2014 and the 6th European Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics, ECFD 2014 - Barcelona, Spain
Duration: Jul 20 2014Jul 25 2014

Publication series

Name11th World Congress on Computational Mechanics, WCCM 2014, 5th European Conference on Computational Mechanics, ECCM 2014 and 6th European Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics, ECFD 2014

Other

OtherJoint 11th World Congress on Computational Mechanics, WCCM 2014, the 5th European Conference on Computational Mechanics, ECCM 2014 and the 6th European Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics, ECFD 2014
Country/TerritorySpain
CityBarcelona
Period7/20/147/25/14

Keywords

  • Community astrophysics codes
  • Impact on communities

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Computational Theory and Mathematics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Mechanical Engineering

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The impact of community software in astrophysics'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this