CHARMS is the acronym for "Coordinated Hydrodynamic and Astrophysical Research, Modeling, and Synthesis", an initiative that focuses on bridging the theory and numerical astrophysics with cutting-edge observational astrophysics. In the era of high-sensitivity and high-resolution spectroimaging instrumentations such as ALMA, consistent treatment of radiation processes based on numerical simulations is required for sensible comparisons between theory and observations. In achieving the goal, software packages that solve hydrodynamic/magnetohydrodynamic equations, consider chemical evolution, and calculate radiative transfer processes are being actively developed under the CHARMS initiative.
Since 2008, CHARMS has established three main development directions, which include the hydrodynamic/magnetohydrodynamic simulation package (ZeusTW), the hydrodynamic simulation package with the abilities of timely chemical evolution (KM1/KM2), and the simulation package for astrophysical radiative transfer (SPARX). These packages have been applied to several science projects including the collapse of protostellar cores and the formation of circumstellar disks, formation and evolution of low mass protostellar jets and outflows, formation of protoplanets and circumplanetary disks, physics in the photon-dominated regions, and the evolution of low-mass stars beyond main sequence. We anticipate growing needs of numerical modeling, data analysis, and data interpretation in these and other research fields, and will continue to provide support for those demands.
