We present a general procedure to solve numerically the general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) equations within the framework of the 3 + 1 formalism. The work reported here extends our previous investigation in general relativistic hydrodynamics (Banyuls et al. 1997) where magnetic fields were not considered. The GRMHD equations are written in conservative form to exploit their hyperbolic character in the solution procedure. All theoretical ingredients necessary to build up highresolution shock-capturing schemes based on the solution of local Riemann problems (i.e. Godunovtype schemes) are described. In particular, we use a renormalized set of regular eigenvectors of the flux Jacobians of the relativistic magnetohydrodynamics equations. In addition, the paper describes a procedure based on the equivalence principle of general relativity that allows the use of Riemann solvers designed for special relativistic magnetohydrodynamics in GRMHD. Our formulation and numerical methodology are assessed by performing various test simulations recently considered by different authors. These include magnetized shock tubes, spherical accretion onto a Schwarzschild black hole, equatorial accretion onto a Kerr black hole, and magnetized thick accretion disks around a black hole prone to the magnetorotational instability.

Abstract.We have performed a comprehensive parameter study of the morphology and dynamics of axisymmetric, magnetized, relativistic jets by means of numerical simulations. The simulations have been performed with an upgraded version of the GENESIS code which is based on a second-order accurate finite volume method involving an approximate Riemann solver suitable for relativistic ideal magnetohydrodynamic flows, and a method of lines. Starting from pure hydrodynamic models we consider the effect of a magnetic field of increasing strength (up to β ≡ |b| 2 /2p ≈ 3.3 times the equipartition value) and different topology (purely toroidal or poloidal). We computed several series of models investigating the dependence of the dynamics on the magnetic field in jets of different beam Lorentz factor and adiabatic index. We find that the inclusion of the magnetic field leads to diverse effects which contrary to Newtonian magnetohydrodynamics models do not always scale linearly with the (relative) strength of the magnetic field. The relativistic models show, however, some clear trends. Axisymmetric jets with toroidal magnetic fields produce a cavity which consists of two parts: an inner one surrounding the beam which is compressed by magnetic forces, and an adjacent outer part which is inflated due to the action of the magnetic field. The outer border of the outer part of the cavity is given by the bow-shock where its interaction with the external medium takes place. Toroidal magnetic fields well below equipartition (β = 0.05) combined with a value of the adiabatic index of 4/3 yield extremely smooth jet cavities and stable beams. Prominent nose cones form when jets are confined by toroidal fields and carry a high Poynting flux (σ ≡ |b| 2 /ρ > 0.01 and β ≥ 1). In contrast, none of our models possessing a poloidal field develops such a nose cone. The size of the nose cone is correlated with the propagation speed of the Mach disc (the smaller the speed the larger is the size). If two models differ only by the adiabatic index, jets having smaller adiabatic indices tend to develop smaller nose cones.

We obtain renormalized sets of right and left eigenvectors of the flux vector Jacobians of the relativistic MHD equations, which are regular and span a complete basis in any physical state including degenerate ones. The renormalization procedure relies on the characterization of the degeneracy types in terms of the normal and tangential components of the magnetic field to the wavefront in the fluid rest frame. Proper expressions of the renormalized eigenvectors in conserved variables are obtained through the corresponding matrix transformations. Our work completes previous analysis that present different sets of right eigenvectors for non-degenerate and degenerate states, and can be seen as a relativistic generalization of earlier work performed in classical MHD. Based on the full wave decomposition (FWD) provided by the the renormalized set of eigenvectors in conserved variables, we have also developed a linearized (Roe-type) Riemann solver. Extensive testing against one-and twodimensional standard numerical problems allows us to conclude that our solver is very robust. When compared with a family of simpler solvers that avoid the knowledge of the full characteristic structure of the equations in the computation of the numerical fluxes, our solver turns out to be less diffusive than HLL and HLLC, and comparable in accuracy to the HLLD solver. The amount of operations needed by the FWD solver makes it less efficient computationally than those of the HLL family in one-dimensional problems. However its relative efficiency increases in multidimensional simulations.

We present a new numerical code that solves the general relativistic magneto-hydrodynamical (GRMHD) equations coupled to the Einstein equations for the evolution of a dynamical spacetime within a conformally-flat approximation. This code has been developed with the main objective of studying astrophysical scenarios in which both, high magnetic fields and strong gravitational fields appear, such as the magneto-rotational collapse of stellar cores, the collapsar model of GRBs, and the evolution of neutron stars. The code is based on an existing and thoroughly tested purely hydrodynamical code and on its extension to accommodate weakly magnetized fluids (passive magnetic-field approximation). These codes have been applied in the past to simulate the aforementioned scenarios with increasing levels of sophistication in the input physics. The numerical code we present here is based on high-resolution shockcapturing schemes to solve the GRMHD equations, which are cast in first-order, flux-conservative hyperbolic form, together with the flux constraint transport method to ensure the solenoidal condition of the magnetic field. Since the astrophysical applications envisaged do not deviate significantly from spherical symmetry, the conformal flatness condition approximation is used for the formulation of the Einstein equations; this has repeatedly shown to yield very good agreement with full general relativistic simulations of corecollapse supernovae and the evolution of isolated neutron stars. In addition, the code can handle several equations of state, from simple analytical expressions to microphysical tabulated ones. In this paper we present stringent tests of our new GRMHD numerical code, which show its ability to handle all aspects appearing in the astrophysical scenarios for which the code is intended, namely relativistic shocks, highly magnetized fluids, and equilibrium configurations of magnetized neutron stars. As an application, magnetorotational core-collapse simulations of a realistic progenitor are presented and the results compared with our previous findings in the passive magnetic-field approximation.

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