Sedov Taylor Blast Wave

© Rebekka Bieri

In order to make sure that the used program is following the correct physics we often have to go back and simulate simple toy-models to which we already understand the solution. Such toy-models can already look pretty beautiful as shown in the above example of the velocity structure of an exploding Sedov-blast wave.

One way to create a strong shock wave or 'blast wave' is to inject a very large amount of energy into a very small volume. Such explosions occur for example in the interstellar medium in the form of supernova explosions. The problem of the point explosion is also known as Sedov-Taylor explosion and can provide a useful test to validate a hydrodynamical numerical scheme, because an analytic solution for it can be computed which can then be compared to numerical results.