[FLASH-USERS] FLASH3.0 Alpha Release

[Dan Sheeler]

The Flash Code group is pleased to announce the 'alpha' release of the 
next major version of the FLASH code, version 3.0. Added capabilities 
include: gravity solvers for several externally applied fields and a 
Newtonian self gravity solver that uses the multipole method, a source 
term for stirring, a nuclear burning network, a directionally split 8wave 
MHD solver, and an equation of state for fully ionized plasma of arbitrary 
degeneracy. The release also includes Lagrangian tracer particles for the 
uniform grid. There have also been several enhancements in the 
infrastructure units of the code. These include complete interface 
definitions of the units' API, support for face-centered discretization 
variables, curvilinear geometry in the meshes and more robust boundary 
conditions handling. The IO capability of the code has been extended to 
include a new implementation using the PnetCDF library for parallel IO, 
and another fallback option of direct IO, where every processor manages 
its own input and output in a separate file. Several test cases have also 
been added to exercise the new physics capabilities of the code.

Many sections of the code are in advanced stages of development, and
are expected to be included in the beta release, scheduled for
December 2006. These include a new staggered mesh MHD solver, more
nuclear networks, tracer particles with adaptive mesh and active
particles.

The alpha release is available for download with a license agreement
at

http://flash.uchicago.edu/website/download/home.html

A stripped down version of FLASH3 that may be downloaded without a
license is also available at the same location. This version is
essentially the FLASH framework without any implementations.

Additionally, Flashtest, which became available with the alpha
release, is now a more general open source version. It can be used to
test any software in which an application is configured and then
run. Flashtest can is available for download at

http://flash.uchicago.edu/website/codesupport

Many, but not all parts of FLASH3 are backwards-compatible with
FLASH2.  The Flash code group has written extensive documentation
detailing how to make the transition from FLASH2 to FLASH3 as smooth
as possible.  The user should look to
http://flash.uchicago.edu/website/codesupport/ for help on
transitioning to FLASH3.  For these early releases, all the
documentation will be included on the website rather than in the
tarball.  The website will also contain other documentation including
a user's guide and a developer's section.  A new feature in FLASH3
documentation is the online description of the public interface
routines to various code units.

Development of the FLASH Code was funded by the DOE-supported
ASC/Alliance Center for Astrophysical Thermonuclear Flashes.  We 
acknowledge support received from Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory and the University of Chicago.

All publications resulting from the use of the FLASH Code must
acknowledge the ASC/Alliance Center for Astrophysical Thermonuclear
Flashes.  Addition of the following text to the paper acknowledgments
will be sufficient.

         "The software used in this work was in part developed by the
         DOE-supported ASC/Alliance Center for Astrophysical Thermonuclear
         Flashes at the University of Chicago."


--Flash Code Group