Hydrodynamic modeling of accretion onto stellar magnetospheres

A numerical investigation is performed of the accretion of slowly rotating matter onto a stellar magnetosphere. The shape of the magnetosphere is repr esented by an impermeable, contracted dipole magnetic field surface with po lar holes. Depending on the governing parameters, both steady-state solutio ns with a system of discontinuities and unsteady flows with expanding shock waves can be obtained. Certain solutions exhibit extended outflow regions. The simulation is performed using a high-resolution finite volume numerica l scheme and structured irregular grids adapted to the shape of the accreti ng body.