An approximate Riemann solver for ideal magnetohydrodynamics (Q1326691)

To construct numerical schemes of the Godunov type for solving magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) problems, an approximate method of solving the MHD Riemann problem is required in order to calculate the time- averaged fluxes at the interfaces of numerical zones. Such an MHD Riemann solver is presented here which treats all waves emanating from the initial discontinuity as themselves discontinuous. Thus shock jump conditions are used for rarefactions, which limits the applicability of this work to weak rarefactions, the case most important for computation.