Runtime Parameters

This page briefly describes parameters that may be defined in the input file. All parameters are case sensitive. Required parameters for all setups are listed first, followed by parameters required for specific Makefile flags or initial conditions. A sample parameter file can be found in the examples directory.

Todo

Port me from the wiki

Required Parameters

These parameters are required for all simulations

Parameter:

nx

Summary:

number of grid cells along the x dimension

Type:

int

Default:

None


Parameter:

ny

Summary:

number of grid cells along the y dimension

Type:

int

Default:

None

In a 1D problem, this must be set to 1


Parameter:

nz

Summary:

number of grid cells along the z dimension

Type:

int

Default:

None

In 1D and 2D problems, this must be set to 1


Parameter:

xmin

Summary:

x direction lower boundary (in code units)

Type:

float

Default:

None


Parameter:

ymin

Summary:

y direction lower boundary (in code units)

Type:

float

Default:

None


Parameter:

zmin

Summary:

z direction lower boundary (in code units)

Type:

float

Default:

None


Todo

Port over the remaining parameters

Cosmology

The parameters required when compiled with COSMOLOGY are H0, Omega_M, Omega_L, and Omega_b.

Parameter:

H0

Summary:

Present-day Hubble Rate in units of km/s/Mpc

Type:

float

Default:

None


Parameter:

Omega_M

Summary:

Present-day matter energy-density

Type:

float

Default:

None


Parameter:

Omega_L

Summary:

Present-day dark energy energy-density

Type:

float

Default:

None


Parameter:

Omega_b

Summary:

Present-day baryonic matter energy-density

Type:

float

Default:

None


Parameter:

Omega_R

Summary:

Present-day radiation energy-density

Type:

float

Default:

0.0


Parameter:

w0

Summary:

Present-day dark energy equation of state. The \(w_0\) in a \(w(a) = w_0 + w_a (1-a)\) dark energy equation of state parameterization.

Type:

float

Default:

-1.0


Parameter:

wa

Summary:

Linear interpolation of dark energy equation of state to early Universe. The \(w_a\) in a \(w(a) = w_0 + w_a (1-a)\) dark energy equation of state parameterization.

Type:

float

Default:

0.0


Parameter:

scale_outputs_file

Summary:

Path to data file describing the scale factor values to output snapshots.

Type:

str

Default:

None

We expect increasing scale factor values in this file


Parameter:

wDE_file

Summary:

Path to data file describing a redshift-dependent dark energy equation of state

Type:

str

Default:

None

We expect increasing redshift values in this file. Each row must have a z wDE(z) value with a space delimiter. Table must have an entry at redshift \(z=0\). Table should look like

# output the first five lines of wDE_file
$ head wDE_file -n 5
# z, w
0.000000000000000000e+00 -9.767616499273475972e-01
6.938631476027579126e-03 -9.769941793369097960e-01
1.392540755881421788e-02 -9.772263520514015145e-01
2.096066230604587410e-02 -9.774581369813842846e-01

When specified, overrides w0 and wa.


Todo

include Init_redshift

Chemistry

These parameters should all be specified in the [chemistry] parameter table.

Parameter:

chemistry.kind

Summary:

kind of chemistry solver to use

Type:

str

Default:

depends on whether you using the legacy cooling Makefile flags

This parameter specifies the choice of chemistry cooling solver. For backwards compatibility, we set the default based on the presence of Makefile parameters. When no Makefile parameters are provided, this defaults to “none.”

With the exception of “chemistry-gpu” and “grackle” (more on those in a moment), you can freely overwrite the default value at runtime. The following table summarizes the available choices (and the conditions where they become defaults):

Name

Meaning

Macros that make this the default

“none”

No chemistry or cooling

N/A

“tabulated-cloudy”

path to data file used by “tabulated-cooling” solver

COOLING_GPU && CLOUDY_COOL

“piecewise-cie”

piecewise-parabolic fit to a collisional ionization equilibrium (CIE)

COOLING_GPU without CLOUDY_COOL

“piecewise-ti+cie”

Analytic cooling/heating recipe that roughly matches the “TI” cooling runs shown in in Kim & Ostriker 2015

N/A

“chemistry-gpu”

Non-equilibrium Hydrogen/Helium chemical network with heating/cooling

CHEMISTRY_GPU

“grackle”

CPU-based non-equilibrium primordial chemistry with heating/cooling

COOLING_GRACKLE

Important

At the time of writing, if you want to use “chemistry-gpu,” you MUST use the CHEMISTRY_GPU Makefile parameter. Likewise, if you want to use “grackle”, you MUST use the COOLING_GRACKLE Makefile parameter. In both cases, we do not allow the choices to be overwritten.


Parameter:

chemistry.data_file

Summary:

path to data file used by “tabulated-cloudy” solver

Type:

str

Default:

None

It is an error to specify this parameter when chemistry.kind chemistry cooling solver other than “tabulated-cloudy.”


Parameter:

chemistry.photoelectric_heating

Summary:

enables photoelectric-heating

Type:

bool

Default:

false

Can be used to enable photoelectric-heating when chemistry.kind is set to “tabulated-cloudy” or “piecewise-ti+cie”. It is an error to specify this for any other cooling.kind.


Parameter:

chemistry.photoelectric_n_av_cgs

Summary:

Parameterizes photoelectric heating

Type:

float

Default:

100.0

When chemistry.photoelectric_heating is true, this parameter can be used to specify the average number-density in the domain in cgs units (which is used to compute impact of photoelectric heating).

It is an error to specify this parameter when chemistry.photoelectric_heating is false.