The FLASH code-an open simulation toolset for magnetized HED plasma physics and astrophysics
FLASH is a publicly available, finite-volume Eulerian, spatially adaptive, radiation magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) code with extended physics capabilities. FLASH is being developed, verified, and validated by the Flash Center for Computational Science to perform well on several computer architectures and serve a broad user base of more than 5,000 scientists, spanning numerous research communities. Extensive high energy density (HED) physics capabilities exist in FLASH, making it a powerful open toolset for modeling laser-driven and pulsed-power-driven experiments. In this talk, I summarize the HEDP capabilities of the code, with an emphasis on recent additions. I showcase FLASH’s ability to simulate ab initio complex laboratory astrophysics experiments performed by the Turbulent Dynamo (TDYNO) collaboration and highlight several collaborative efforts with the academic HED community, the national laboratories, and industry, in which FLASH simulations are used to design and interpret a broad range of HED physics experiments.
This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration under Award Number DE-NA0004144. The Flash Center acknowledges support by the U.S. DOE NNSA under Awards DE-NA0002724, DE-NA0003605, DE-NA0003934, DE-NA0004147, and Subcontract 630138 with LANL; the NSF under Awards PHY-2033925 and PHY-2308844; the U.S. DOE Office of Science, under Awards DE-SC0021990, DE-SC0023246; and the U.S. DOE ARPA-E under Award DE-AR0001272.
Bio: Petros Tzeferacos is the director of Flash Center for Computational Science, a professor of physics and astronomy, and a senior scientist at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics of the University of Rochester. He works on plasma physics and astrophysics, combining MHD theory, numerical modeling, and laser-driven laboratory experiments, to study fundamental astrophysical plasma processes with a focus on magnetized turbulence, dynamo, and charged particle acceleration. He is also working on several fundamental topics in inertial fusion energy and high energy density physics. He holds a visiting scientist position with the University of Oxford and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and is a guest scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He received the APS John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research in 2019, an Early Career Award from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science in 2021, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2025.