FLUX CORRECTED TRANSPORT METHOD FOR MHD PLASMA - DESCRIPTION OF THE NUMERICAL ALGORITHM AND TESTS

This paper gives a detailed description of an MHD code for the simulat ion of 2D flows and waves in magnetic astrophysical plasmas. The code uses the flux corrected transport method with Zalesak's flux limiter f or the spatial integration and a predictor-corrector method for the di rect time integration. Results of test problems are presented in order to assess the numerical accuracy and performance of the code. The tes t problems deal with the numerical simulations of impulsively generate d nonlinear MHD waves in coronal density interfaces and slabs. At pres ent the code uses Cartesian coordinates and the MHD equations for a (b eta = 0) pressureless ideal plasma. The extension to more complicated geometries and non-zero beta plasmas is straightforward.