Release 21.08

Castro 21.08

Release 21.07

Castro 21.07

Release 21.06

21.06

• Starting with this release, problem setups written in Fortran are
  no longer supported and will no longer work. Please consult the
  code documentation and example problem setups in Exec/ to understand
  the new problem setup format. If you need help converting a Fortran
  setup to C++, please file an issue. (#1728, #1732)

• Sponge parameters are now only accepted through the inputs file; the
  &sponge namelist in the probin file is no longer read. (#1731)

• Ambient parameters are now only accepted through the inputs file; the
  &ambient namelist in the probin file is no longer read. (#1742)

• The update_sponge_params hook has been removed. (#1716)

• The Fortran problem-specific source file, ext_src_nd.F90, has been
  removed. Problem-specific sources should be implemented in C++ in
  problem_source.H. (#1856)

• Support for the legacy tagging scheme based on probin parameters (denerr,
  tempgrad, etc.) has been removed. These can be replaced with equivalent
  tagging criteria constructed in the inputs file; see the docs or examples
  in Exec/ to see how to use amr.refinement_indicators. (#1834)

• The Fortran set_problem_tags hook has been removed. The C++ replacement
  is problem_tagging() in problem_tagging.H. (#1828)

• The PrescribedGrav functionality has been removed (not replaced with a C++
  implementation). If you want to obtain the same functionality, you can use
  a problem-defined source term (look for problem_source in the documentation)
  and make the appropriate modification for applying it directly to the state
  (e.g. the momentum source term is rho * g). (#1854)

• The custom radiation boundary using lo_bcflag and hi_bcflag coupled with
  an implementation of rbndry has been removed. (#1743)

• We no longer store Reactions_Type in checkpoint files. This means
  that newer versions of Castro will not restart from old version.

Release 21.05

• The parameter use_eos_in_riemann was removed -- we found no
  instances of it being used (#1623)

• The option castro.apply_sources_consecutively was removed (#1636)

Release 21.04

Castro 21.04

Release 21.03

Castro 21.03

Release 21.02

21.02

• In axisymmetric geometry, there are additional forces that arise
  due to the changing direction of the unit vectors in the div{rho
  U U} term. The paper by Bernand-Champmartin discusses this. See
  issue #913. This adds those forces. Note that the Coriolis force
  in 2-d axisymmetry is already consistent with a right-handed
  system despite our internal ordering of the state was r, z,
  theta. (#923)

• We can now set any of the Microphysics runtime parameters in the
  inputs file instead of probin. Each group of parameters has a
  namesapce for the inputs file when set this way
  (e.g. eos.use_coulomb = 1), and the C++ inputs value will take
  precedence over the value set in probin if it is set in both
  places. (#1527)

Release 21.01

• The minimum C++ standard supported by Castro is now C++17. Most modern compilers
  support C++17; the notable exception is RHEL 7 and its derivatives like CentOS 7,
  where the default compiler is gcc 4.8. In that case a newer compiler must be loaded,
  particularly a version of gcc >= 7.0, for example by installing devtoolset-7 or (if
  running on an HPC cluster that provides modules) using a more recent gcc module. (#1506)

• There can now be multiple _prob_params files throughout the source
  tree. We read the problem's file last and that takes precedence over
  any other _prob_params files found. (#1500)

• The timestep limiter dtnuc_T has been removed. dtnuc_e and dtnuc_X
  are still available for controlling the burning timestep. (#1501)

• A bug was fixed in the 2nd order true SDC (with reactions) that
  was giving the wrong solution and convergence (#1494). A second
  bug was fixed in defining the weights for the Radau quadrature
  when using true SDC (#1493)

• Compiling with the PGI compiler is no longer a requirement for the CUDA build of Castro.
  We recommend using COMP=gnu with a version of gcc that is C++17 compliant (gcc >= 7).

Release 20.12

20.12

• An issue with incorrect application of HSE boundary conditions on derived quantities
  is now resolved (#1356). Also, at this point the old Fortran implementations hypfill,
  denfill, ext_hypfill, and ext_denfill have been removed; problem-specific boundary
  conditions should be implemented using the new C++ interface in this release from #1289.

• The minimum supported Hypre version is now 2.19.0. (#1333)

• We have switched from a Fortran to a C++ implementation of VODE in Microphysics.
  As a result we have also switched the Strang and simplified SDC burners in Castro
  to use this C++ implementation. Most networks used in Castro have already been
  ported to C++. While networks are not required to have a C++ implementation,
  networks implemented only in Fortran will not be useable on GPUs, and eventually
  we will use C++ only. (#1313)

• problem_checkpoint and problem_restart are moved to C++ from Fortran. See
  Exec/science/wdmerger for an example of the new scheme. Problem.f90 and Problem_F.H
  are now deleted from the code; if you were using these to implement problem-specific
  functionality, you can still manually add these files to the Make.package for your
  problem setup. (#1311)

• For setups using Poisson gravity, tagging is now turned off in locations where
  the fine levels would have been adjacent to a physical boundary. (This previously
  led to an abort.) (#1302)

• An interface for doing problem tagging in C++ has been added. (#1289)

• Simplified SDC now only supports the C++ integrators (#1294)

• MHD problems can now do the magnetic field initialization in C++
  (#1298)

Release 20.11

• The minimum C++ standard supported by Castro is now C++14. Most modern compilers
  support C++14; the notable exception is RHEL 7 and its derivatives like CentOS 7,
  where the default compiler is gcc 4.8. In that case a newer compiler must be loaded,
  particularly a version of gcc >= 5.0, for example by installing devtoolset-7 or (if
  running on an HPC cluster that provides modules) using a more recent gcc module. (#1284)

• A new option, castro.retry_small_density_cutoff, has been added. In some
  cases a small or negative density retry may be triggered on an update that
  moves a zone already close to small_dens just below it. This is not uncommon
  for "ambient"/"fluff" material outside a star. Since these zones are not
  dynamically important anyway, triggering a retry is unnecessary (and possibly
  counterproductive, since it may require a very small timestep to avoid). By
  setting this cutoff value appropriately, the retry will be skipped if the
  density of the zone prior to the update was below the cutoff. (#1273)