The coolcurve_create software offers hydrodynamical simulation cooling curves, including emissivities from XSPEC, for use in projects.
Coolcurve_create is an impressive project that offers users cooling curves (emissivities) for hydrodynamical simulations sourced from XSPEC. The project is equipped with ccurve_create.tcl - a powerful TCL script, along with associated csh-scripts, that makes it possible to calculate cooling curves (plasma emissivities, in units of erg cm^3 s^-1) as a function of plasma temperature using the hot plasma codes available in the XSPEC spectral fitting program.
Thanks to the software's ability to control the metal abundances in XSPEC, particularly the relative element abundances (e.g. alpha-elements to iron) and absolute abundances (with respect to hydrogen), it is an advantageous alternative for simulations considering metal-enrichment or chemically-different plasmas. The software makes it possible to create element-specific cooling functions that are valuable in hydrodynamical simulations to evaluate the total cooling rate, calculate the luminosity in a specific wavelength/energy range, or calculate X-ray or UV line diagnostics.
These cooling functions are comparable to those presented by Sutherland & Dopita (1993) or Orly & Gnat (2007), although they do not replace them. The software is most valuable when you want to quickly and inexpensively assess the X-ray luminosity of a hot plasma in a simulation (rather than calculating it post-facto after the simulation is completed), as the majority of the hot plasma codes available in XSPEC are best suited to X-ray emission, especially in conditions of collisional ionization equilibrium (CIE).
This software and method are ideal for line-or-ion specific cooling functions, such as the emission at E~6.7 keV from Fe XXV, or the O VI doublet at 1032 and 1038 Angstroms. However, bolometric cooling functions can still be calculated, mainly with the MEKAL plasma code (as it was designed to calculate FUV/EUV emission in addition to X-ray emission).
The CIE bolometric emissivities will be larger than the NIE cooling rates, as you will find out if you compare the CIE emissivities to the Sutherland and Dopita NIE cooling function. To calculate luminosities from these emissivities, multiply by n_e * n_H * V, NOT n_tot**2 * V, where n_e is the electron number density (in cm^-3), n_H the proton number density, and V the region's volume (cm^3). With Coolcurve_create, users can efficiently and accurately calculate cooling curves, evaluate luminosities, calculate X-ray or UV line diagnostics, and more.
Thanks to the software's ability to control the metal abundances in XSPEC, particularly the relative element abundances (e.g. alpha-elements to iron) and absolute abundances (with respect to hydrogen), it is an advantageous alternative for simulations considering metal-enrichment or chemically-different plasmas. The software makes it possible to create element-specific cooling functions that are valuable in hydrodynamical simulations to evaluate the total cooling rate, calculate the luminosity in a specific wavelength/energy range, or calculate X-ray or UV line diagnostics.
These cooling functions are comparable to those presented by Sutherland & Dopita (1993) or Orly & Gnat (2007), although they do not replace them. The software is most valuable when you want to quickly and inexpensively assess the X-ray luminosity of a hot plasma in a simulation (rather than calculating it post-facto after the simulation is completed), as the majority of the hot plasma codes available in XSPEC are best suited to X-ray emission, especially in conditions of collisional ionization equilibrium (CIE).
This software and method are ideal for line-or-ion specific cooling functions, such as the emission at E~6.7 keV from Fe XXV, or the O VI doublet at 1032 and 1038 Angstroms. However, bolometric cooling functions can still be calculated, mainly with the MEKAL plasma code (as it was designed to calculate FUV/EUV emission in addition to X-ray emission).
The CIE bolometric emissivities will be larger than the NIE cooling rates, as you will find out if you compare the CIE emissivities to the Sutherland and Dopita NIE cooling function. To calculate luminosities from these emissivities, multiply by n_e * n_H * V, NOT n_tot**2 * V, where n_e is the electron number density (in cm^-3), n_H the proton number density, and V the region's volume (cm^3). With Coolcurve_create, users can efficiently and accurately calculate cooling curves, evaluate luminosities, calculate X-ray or UV line diagnostics, and more.
What's New
Version 1.00: N/A