VariationalCompressibleFluid · Gas dynamics

Acoustic pulse

A Gaussian bump in the density of a compressible gas splits into two half-height pulses that travel in opposite directions at the speed of sound. Struphy's variational discretization follows them around the periodic box, conserving energy, and they agree with d'Alembert's solution. The periodic initial density uses ten Gaussian-weighted modes: n(x,0)=1+∑j=110ajcos⁡(jx),aj=0.022π2πe−j2/8,n(x,0)=1+\sum_{j=1}^{10}a_j\cos(jx),\qquad a_j=\frac{0.02\sqrt{2\pi}}{2\pi}e^{-j^2/8}, with u(x,0)=0\mathbf{u}(x,0)=0 on 0≤x<2π0\le x<2\pi. The pulse has width σ=0.5\sigma=0.5 and sound speed cs=1c_s=1.

A density pulse splitting into two travelling pulses, with kinetic and thermodynamic energy trading places
Actual output from the script below. Interactive controls are available in the plot above.Open graph in a new tab ↗
Space-time map of the density change of an acoustic pulse splitting into two
The density change of the run above along x, over time. The pulse splits into two, and the two travelling pulses leave straight lines whose slope is the speed of sound, c = 1; because the box is periodic, they meet again on the opposite side at t = L / (2c).Open graph in a new tab ↗

Physical problem

A pulse that splits in two

PDEs solved by model:

Continuity:

Momentum:

Entropy:

where the internal energy per unit mass is .

Simulation geometry

Domain used in this run

The actual Cuboid geometry reconstructed from this run's metadata. Switch between the 3D view and physical-coordinate slices.

Domain

Cuboid

Generated and exported by Struphy.Drag to rotate · Scroll to zoom · Shift-drag to pan

Parameters

ParameterValueDescription
Loading parameters…

Performance

Profiling

Struphy's built-in scope-profiler instruments every propagator, pusher and solver call — these are the real per-call timings from the run above.

Durations

Gantt (rank 0)

Region statistics

RegionCountAvg (s)Min (s)Max (s)Total (s)

Complete source

Simulation script

Download .py

Run it locally

1. Install and compile

Use Python 3.10 or newer with Struphy's system prerequisites installed. Run these commands in your Python environment:

pip install "struphy[pproc]>=3.4.0"
pip install "plasma-plots[plotly]>=0.1.1"
struphy compile

PNG exports need Chrome or Chromium. If Chrome is not installed, run kaleido_get_chrome.

2. Run the script

Download the .py file above, open a terminal in its directory, then run:

python acoustic-pulse.py

Figures are saved in the current directory. Add --show to display them before saving.

"""An acoustic pulse in a compressible gas, with Struphy's VariationalCompressibleFluid model.

The gas has the pressure p = (gamma - 1) rho^gamma exp(s / rho), with gamma = 5/3 and an entropy chosen so that the
sound speed c = sqrt(gamma p / rho) is 1 at unit density. A Gaussian bump in the density (with the entropy per unit mass
left uniform), at rest, splits into two pulses of half the height that run in opposite directions at the speed of sound, cross
each other after the box has been traversed (the box is periodic), and reunite. For a small pulse the exact solution is
d'Alembert's, rho - 1 = (f(x - c t) + f(x + c t)) / 2. Struphy's variational discretization conserves the total energy: the pulse
starts as pure thermodynamic energy, which the running pulses share with kinetic energy.

Install dependencies and compile the kernels (Python 3.10 or newer):

    pip install "struphy[pproc]>=3.4.0"
    pip install "plasma-plots[plotly]>=0.1.1"
    struphy compile

PNG exports require Chrome or Chromium. If Chrome is not installed, run:

    kaleido_get_chrome

Save this file and run it from the directory where you want the output:

    python acoustic-pulse.py

Figures are saved in the current directory; add --show to display them before saving.
"""

import argparse

import numpy as np
import plotly.graph_objects as go

from struphy import (
    DerhamOptions,
    EnvironmentOptions,
    FieldsBackground,
    Simulation,
    Time,
    domains,
    equils,
    grids,
    perturbations,
)
from struphy.linear_algebra.solver import NonlinearSolverParameters
from struphy.models import VariationalCompressibleFluid
from plasma_plots import save_figure

length = 2 * np.pi
width = 0.5  # of the Gaussian pulse
amplitude = 0.02  # small, so that the pulse stays in the linear regime
modes = 10  # cosine modes that represent the Gaussian
sound_speed = 1.0
gamma = 5.0 / 3.0
# c^2 = gamma (gamma - 1) rho^(gamma - 1) exp(s / rho) equals 1 at unit density when exp(s / rho) = 1 / (gamma (gamma - 1)).
entropy_per_mass = -np.log(gamma * (gamma - 1.0))

# The Gaussian, as a cosine series about x = 0 (the pulse wraps around the periodic box): f(x) = sum_n a_n cos(n k x).
harmonics = np.arange(1, modes + 1)
wavenumbers = 2 * np.pi * harmonics / length
coefficients = 2 * amplitude * width * np.sqrt(2 * np.pi) / length * np.exp(-0.5 * (wavenumbers * width) ** 2)


class CompatibleNonlinearSolverParameters(NonlinearSolverParameters):
    """Bridge Struphy code paths that use both attribute and mapping access."""

    def __getitem__(self, key):
        return getattr(self, key)


def exact_density(x, t):
    """d'Alembert's solution of the linearized problem: the sum of the cosine modes, each oscillating at c k."""
    modes_x = np.cos(np.outer(np.atleast_1d(x), wavenumbers))
    return 1.0 + modes_x @ (coefficients * np.cos(sound_speed * wavenumbers * t))


def create_simulation() -> Simulation:
    time_opts = Time(dt=0.02, Tend=length / sound_speed, split_algo="Strang")  # one crossing of the periodic box
    grid = grids.TensorProductGrid(num_elements=(64, 1, 1))
    derham_opts = DerhamOptions(degree=(3, 1, 1))
    domain = domains.Cuboid(l1=0.0, r1=length, l2=0.0, r2=1.0, l3=0.0, r3=1.0)

    model = VariationalCompressibleFluid()
    nonlinear_solver = CompatibleNonlinearSolverParameters(type="Newton")
    model.propagators.variat_dens.options = model.propagators.variat_dens.Options(
        model="full", gamma=gamma, nonlin_solver=nonlinear_solver
    )
    model.propagators.variat_ent.options = model.propagators.variat_ent.Options(gamma=gamma, nonlin_solver=nonlinear_solver)
    # Logical 3-forms include det(DF) = length, so a physical density 1 is the value `length`.
    model.fluid.density.add_background(FieldsBackground(values=(length,)))
    model.fluid.entropy.add_background(FieldsBackground(values=(entropy_per_mass * length,)))
    model.fluid.velocity.add_background(FieldsBackground(values=(0.0, 0.0, 0.0)))
    # The entropy per unit mass s / rho stays uniform, so the entropy follows the density: ds = (s / rho) d(rho).
    for variable, factor in ((model.fluid.density, 1.0), (model.fluid.entropy, entropy_per_mass)):
        variable.add_perturbation(
            perturbations.ModesCos(
                ls=tuple(int(n) for n in harmonics), amps=tuple(float(factor * c) for c in coefficients), Lx=length,
                given_in_basis="physical",
            )
        )

    sim = Simulation(
        model=model,
        name="Acoustic pulse",
        description=(
            "A Gaussian bump in the density of a compressible gas splits into two half-height pulses that travel in "
            "opposite directions at the speed of sound. Struphy's variational discretization follows them around the "
            "periodic box, conserving energy, and they agree with d'Alembert's solution."
            r" The periodic initial density uses ten Gaussian-weighted modes: $$n(x,0)=1+\sum_{j=1}^{10}a_j\cos(jx),\qquad a_j=\frac{0.02\sqrt{2\pi}}{2\pi}e^{-j^2/8},$$"
            r" with :math:`\mathbf{u}(x,0)=0` on :math:`0\le x<2\pi`. The pulse has width :math:`\sigma=0.5` and sound speed :math:`c_s=1`."
        ),
        env=EnvironmentOptions(out_folders="struphy_gallery_runs", sim_folder="acoustic_pulse"),
        time_opts=time_opts,
        domain=domain,
        equil=equils.HomogenSlab(B0z=1.0, n0=1.0, beta=2.0),
        grid=grid,
        derham_opts=derham_opts,
    )
    return sim


def pproc(sim: Simulation, show: bool = False):
    from plotly.subplots import make_subplots

    output = sim.output
    output.pproc(physical=True)

    rho = output.evaluate("fluid/density_xyz").isel(eta2=0, eta3=0)
    times = rho.t.values
    x = rho.eta1.values * length
    density = rho.values
    exact = np.array([exact_density(x, t) for t in times])
    error = float(rho.plasma.analysis.error(exact, norm="max", dims=("t", "eta1"))) / amplitude
    print(f"Maximum error of the density, relative to the pulse height: {error:.3f}")

    kinetic = np.asarray(output.scalars["en_U"])
    thermo = np.asarray(output.scalars["en_thermo"])
    total = np.asarray(output.scalars["en_tot"])
    scalar_times = np.asarray(output.time)[: len(total)]
    energy_drift = float(output.scalars["en_tot"].plasma.analysis.relative_error().max())
    print(f"Maximum relative drift of the total energy: {energy_drift:.2e}")
    energy_scale = float(kinetic.max())  # the largest kinetic energy the pulse reaches

    def profile_traces(index):
        return [
            go.Scatter(x=x, y=density[index], mode="lines", name="Struphy", line={"color": "#d62828", "width": 3}),
            go.Scatter(x=x, y=exact[index], mode="lines", name="d'Alembert (linear)",
                       line={"color": "#111", "width": 2, "dash": "dash"}),
        ]

    picks = np.unique(np.linspace(0, len(times) - 1, min(100, len(times)), dtype=int))
    figure = make_subplots(rows=2, cols=1, vertical_spacing=0.2,
                           subplot_titles=("Density along the box", "Energy exchange"))
    for trace in profile_traces(0):
        figure.add_trace(trace, row=1, col=1)
    figure.add_scatter(x=scalar_times, y=(kinetic - kinetic[0]) / energy_scale, mode="lines",
                       name="kinetic energy", line={"color": "#168aad", "width": 2}, row=2, col=1)
    figure.add_scatter(x=scalar_times, y=(thermo - thermo[0]) / energy_scale, mode="lines",
                       name="thermodynamic energy", line={"color": "#f77f00", "width": 2}, row=2, col=1)
    figure.add_scatter(x=scalar_times, y=(total - total[0]) / energy_scale, mode="lines",
                       name="total energy", line={"color": "#111", "width": 2, "dash": "dot"}, row=2, col=1)
    figure.frames = [go.Frame(name=f"{times[i]:.2f}", data=profile_traces(i), traces=[0, 1]) for i in picks]
    figure.update_layout(
        title="An acoustic pulse splits and travels around the box", template="plotly_white",
        margin={"l": 70, "r": 30, "t": 150, "b": 140}, title_y=0.97, legend={"orientation": "h", "y": 1.13},
        updatemenus=[{"type": "buttons", "showactive": False, "x": 0, "y": -0.12,
                      "buttons": [{"label": "Play", "method": "animate", "args": [None, {"frame": {"duration": 50, "redraw": False}, "transition": {"duration": 0}, "fromcurrent": True}]}]}],
        sliders=[{"active": 0, "x": 0.12, "len": 0.88, "y": -0.07, "currentvalue": {"prefix": "t = "},
                  "steps": [{"args": [[frame.name], {"frame": {"duration": 0, "redraw": False}, "transition": {"duration": 0}, "mode": "immediate"}], "label": frame.name, "method": "animate"} for frame in figure.frames]}],
    )
    figure.update_xaxes(title_text="x", range=[0, length], row=1, col=1)
    figure.update_yaxes(title_text="density", range=[1 - 0.3 * amplitude, 1 + 1.1 * amplitude], row=1, col=1)
    figure.update_xaxes(title_text="t", row=2, col=1)
    figure.update_yaxes(title_text="energy change / largest kinetic energy", row=2, col=1)
    save_figure(figure, "acoustic-pulse", width=900, height=850, show=show)

    density_change = rho.copy(data=density - 1.0)
    space_time = density_change.assign_coords(eta1=x).plasma.plot.slice(
        x="eta1",
        y="t",
        symmetric=True,
        cmap="RdBu_r",
        title="Acoustic pulse: density change ρ − 1",
        xlabel="x",
        ylabel="t [a.u.]",
        colorbar_label="ρ − 1",
        backend="plotly",
    )
    save_figure(space_time, "acoustic-pulse-space-time", show=show)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    argparser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Run the acoustic pulse example.")
    argparser.add_argument(
        "--pproc-only",
        action="store_true",
        help="Run post-processing on an existing simulation instead of running a new one.",
    )
    argparser.add_argument("--show", action="store_true", help="Show the figures before saving them.")
    args = argparser.parse_args()

    simulation = create_simulation()
    if not args.pproc_only:
        simulation.run()
    pproc(simulation, show=args.show)

See the post-processing guide for more ways to inspect the result.