grackle: a chemistry and cooling library for astrophysics

• DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stw3291
• Publication Date: 2016-12-15T22:11:40Z
• Authors: Britton D. Smith; Greg L. Bryan; Simon C. O. Glover; Nathan J. Goldbaum; Matthew J. Turk; John Regan; John H. Wise; Hsi-Yu Schive; Tom Abel; Andrew Emerick; Brian W. O'Shea; Peter Anninos; Cameron B. Hummels; Sadegh Khochfar
• Keywords: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO); formation [galaxies]; astrochemistry; 500; FOS: Physical sciences; numerical [methods]; Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies; 01 natural sciences; methods: numerical; Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA); 0103 physical sciences; galaxies: formation; Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics; Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM); Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics

20 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. For more info, visit grackle.readthedocs.io<br/>We present the Grackle chemistry and cooling library for astrophysical simulations and models. Grackle provides a treatment of non-equilibrium primordial chemistry and cooling for H, D, and He species, including H2 formation on dust grains; tabulated primordial and metal cooling; multiple UV background models; and support for radiation transfer and arbitrary heat sources. The library has an easily implementable interface for simulation codes written in C, C++, and Fortran as well as a Python interface with added convenience functions for semi-analytical models. As an open-source project, Grackle provides a community resource for accessing and disseminating astrochemical data and numerical methods. We present the full details of the core functionality, the simulation and Python interfaces, testing infrastructure, performance, and range of applicability. Grackle is a fully open-source project and new contributions are welcome.<br/>