Computing interface motion in compressible gas dynamics (Q1195424)

The moving front is described as a particular set in a fixed domain of a partial differential equation. Numerical techniques borrowed from hyperbolic conservation laws are used to accurately capture the surface motion. The compressible Rayleigh-Taylor and Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities for air-air and air-helium boundaries are studied. Numerical convergence studies of the method over a range of parameters are performed and the accuracy of this approach is analyzed.