Project Description

An undergraduate research assistant (URA) will be involved in using a spectral difference method with divergence cleaning (SDDC) for solving magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations on unstructured meshes for studying magnetic reconnection, a fundamental process that drives the formation of solar flares. The URA will conduct simulations of the Geospace Environment Modeling (GEM) magnetic reconnection challenge problem using both the standard MHD and Hall MHD models. The goal of this research is to study the Hall effect on the formation of a central island for the GEM problem and its evolution over time.