Awesome Astrophysical Simulation Codes

A curated list of awesome astrophysical simulation software

Contents

• Code List
• Numerical Method
• Physics
• High-Performance Features
• Additional Lists
• Contribute

Code List

Code	Description	Lang.	Repo	Paper
Arepo	Massively parallel moving Voronoi mesh cosmological simulation code.
Athena++	Radiation GRMHD code and adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) framework.
Castro	Adaptive mesh, rad/mhd/hydro simulation code for massively parallel CPU and GPU architectures.
ChaNGa	Charm N-body Gravity solver and SPH.
Cholla	GPU-based hydro code.
Dedalus	Flexible framework for solving PDEs with modern spectral methods.
Einstein Toolkit	Community computational infrastructure for relativistic astrophysics.
Enzo	Adaptive Mesh Refinement Code for Astrophysics.
FLASH	Adaptive Mesh Hydrodynamics Code for Modeling Astrophysical Thermonuclear Flashes.
Gadget	Parallel cosmological N-body and SPH code.
GAMER	GPU-accelerated Adaptive Mesh Refinement code for astrophysics.
Gizmo	Flexible, massively-parallel, multi-physics simulation code.
MAESTROeX	Massively parallel low Mach number stellar hydrodynamics code.
Nyx	Adaptive mesh, cosmological hydrodynamics simulation code.
Pencil	High-order finite-difference code for compressible hydrodynamic flows with magnetic fields and particles.
PHANTOM	Smoothed particle hydrodynamics and magnetohydrodynamics code for astrophysics.
PLUTO	Code targeting high Mach number flows in astrophysical fluid dynamics.
QUOKKA	First two-moment AMR radiation hydrodynamics on GPUs for astrophysics.
RAMSES	Code to model astrophysical systems, featuring self-gravitating, magnetized, compressible, radiative fluid flows.
REBOUND	Open-source multi-purpose N-body code.
SWIFT	Modern highly-parallel gravity and smoothed particle hydrodynamics solver for astrophysical and cosmological applications.
TARDIS	Fast 1D spectral code for supernovae with a vibrant community focused on training.

Numerical Method

Code	Finite Difference	Finite Volume	Finite Element	Spectral	SPH	N-body	Eulerian	ALE	Lagrangian	AMR
Arepo		🟩️️️️️				🟩️️️️️		🟩️️️️️
Athena++		🟩️️️️️					🟩️️️️️			🟩️️️️️
Castro		🟩️️️️️					🟩️️️️️			🟩️️️️️
ChaNGa					🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️			🟩️️️️️
Cholla		🟩️️️️️					🟩️️️️️
Dedalus				🟩️️️️️			🟩️️️️️
Einstein Toolkit	🟩️	🟩️		🟩️️️️️			🟩️️️️️
Enzo		🟩️️️️️					🟩️️️️️			🟩️️️️️
FLASH		🟩️️️️️					🟩️️️️️			🟩️️️️️
Gadget					🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️			🟩️️️️️
GAMER		🟩️️️️️					🟩️️️️️			🟩️️️️️
Gizmo		🟩️️️️️				🟩️️️️️			🟩️️️️️
MAESTROeX		🟩️️️️️					🟩️️️️️			🟩️️️️️
Nyx		🟩️️️️️					🟩️️️️️			🟩️️️️️
Pencil	🟩️️️️️						🟩️️️️️
PLUTO	🟩️️️️️	🟩️					🟩️️️️️			🟩️
PHANTOM					🟩️️️️️	🟩️️			🟩️️️️️
QUOKKA		🟩️️️️️					🟩️️️️️			️️️️️️️️🟩️️️️️
RAMSES		🟩️️️️️				🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️			🟩️️️️️
REBOUND						🟩️️️️️
SWIFT					🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️			🟩️️️️️
TARDIS				🟩️️️️️

Physics

Code	Hydrodynamics	MHD	Radiation	Self-Gravity	General-Relativity
Arepo	🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️
Athena++	🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️
Castro	🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️
ChaNGa	🟩️			🟩️
Cholla	🟩️		🟩️	🟩️
Dedalus	🟩️	🟩️		🟩️
Einstein Toolkit	🟩️	🟩️		🟩️	🟩️
Enzo	🟩️	🟩️	🟩️	🟩️
FLASH	🟩️	🟩️	🟩️	🟩️
Gadget	🟩️			🟩️
GAMER	🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️
Gizmo	🟩️	🟩️	🟩️	🟩️
MAESTROeX	🟩️	🟩️	🟩️	🟩️
Nyx	🟩️	🟩️	🟩️	🟩️
Pencil	🟩️	🟩️		🟩️
PLUTO	🟩️	🟩️
PHANTOM	🟩️			🟩️
QUOKKA	🟩️️️️️		🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️
RAMSES	🟩️	🟩️	🟩️	🟩️
REBOUND				🟩️
SWIFT	🟩️			🟩️
TARDIS			🟩️

High-Performance Features

Code	MPI	GPU
Arepo	🟩️️️️️
Athena++	🟩️️️️️
Castro	🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️
ChaNGa	🟩️️️️️
Cholla	🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️
Dedalus	🟩️
Einstein Toolkit	🟩️
Enzo	🟩️
FLASH	🟩️
Gadget	🟩️
GAMER	🟩️️️️️	🟩️️️️️
Gizmo	🟩️
MAESTROeX	🟩️	🟩️
Nyx	🟩️	🟩️
Pencil	🟩️
PLUTO	🟩️️️️️
PHANTOM	🟩️
QUOKKA	🟩️	🟩️
RAMSES	🟩️
REBOUND	🟩️
SWIFT	🟩️
TARDIS		🟩️

Additional Lists

• HEP-ASTRO-COSMO

Contribute

Contributions to the list are welcome! Contributing guidelines can be found in CONTRIBUTING.md