PLUTO: A Numerical Code for Computational Astrophysics

We present a new numerical code, PLUTO, for the solution of hypersonic flowsin 1, 2 and 3 spatial dimensions and different systems of coordinates. The codeprovides a multi-physics, multi-algorithm modular environment particularlyoriented towards the treatment of astrophysical flows in presence ofdiscontinuities. Different hydrodynamic modules and algorithms may beindependently selected to properly describe Newtonian, relativistic, MHD orrelativistic MHD fluids. The modular structure exploits a general framework forintegrating a system of conservation laws, built on modern Godunov-typeshock-capturing schemes. Although a plethora of numerical methods has beensuccessfully developed over the past two decades, the vast majority shares acommon discretization recipe, involving three general steps: a piecewisepolynomial reconstruction followed by the solution of Riemann problems at zoneinterfaces and a final evolution stage. We have checked and validated the codeagainst several benchmarks available in literature. Test problems in 1, 2 and 3dimensions are discussed.Comment: To be published in ApJ Supplement; corrected the size of Fig.