A magic two-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann algorithm for magnetohydrodynamics

. The two-relaxation-time collision operator in discrete kinetic theory models collisions between particles by grouping them into pairs with anti-parallel velocities. It prescribes a linear relaxation towards equilibrium with one rate for the even combination of distribution functions for each pair, and another rate for the odd combination. We reformulate this collision operator using relaxation rates for the forward-propagating and backward-propagating combinations instead. An optimal pair of relaxation rates sets the forward-propagating combination of each pair of distributions to equilibrium. Only the backward-propagating non-equilibrium distributions remain. Applying this result twice gives closed discrete equations for evolving the macroscopic variables alone across three time levels. We split the equivalent equations into a first-order system: a conservation law and a kinetic equation for the flux. All other quantities are evaluated at equilibrium. We apply this formalism to the magnetic field in a lattice Boltzmann scheme for magnetohydrodynamics. The antisymmetric part of the kinetic equation matches the Maxwell–Faraday equation and Ohm’s law. The symmetric part matches the hyperbolic divergence cleaning model. The discrete divergence of the magnetic field remains zero, to within round-off error, when the initial magnetic field is the discrete curl of a vector potential. We have thus constructed a mimetic or constrained transport scheme for magnetohydrodynamics.