Module documentation

This page lists the MESA modules alphabetically by name and briefly summarizes their purpose.

Each MESA module has its own directory with the same general structure, including a standard set of subdirectories and scripts. The standard subdirectories for each module are make, private, public, and test. The test directory has make and src directories for the program that tests the module when it is created. The make directory has the makefile for the library and will hold the object files and .mod files that are created by the compiler. The public directory has the sources for the interface to the library, while the private directory has sources for the parts of the implementation that are meant for internal use only. For example, if you want to see what is available in the eos module, look in eos/public/eos_lib.f90 for the routines and eos/public/eos_def.f90 for the data.

Atmospheres (atm)

MESA uses the atmosphere (atm) module to obtain a surface temperature (\(T_{\rm surf}\)) and surface pressure (\(P_{\rm surf}\)), representing the conditions at the base of the stellar atmosphere. These values are applied as boundary conditions when evolving the interior model.

Note

MESA treats the atmosphere separately, via these boundary conditions, because the physics governing the atmosphere is often quite different than in the interior.

Historically, MESA decided how \(T_{\rm surf}\) and \(P_{\rm surf}\) are calculated using the which_atm_option control. To improve consistency between the atmosphere and interior calculations, and to offer more flexibility to users, this control was replaced in revision 11869 by the atm_option control, plus a number of other subsidiary controls.

• Overview of Atmosphere Choices
• Mapping from Old to New
• Atmosphere Structure Building

Automatic Differentiation (auto_diff)

The auto_diff module provides Fortran derived types that support automatic calculation of analytic derivatives using the chain rule.

• Overview of auto_diff module
• Example of auto_diff in run_star_extras
• More detail on the auto_diff module
  • What is auto_diff?
  • What does it look like in Fortran?
  • How does it work in Fortran?
    • Derivative Operators
    • Custom Operators
    • Array Types
  • How does it work in Python?
    • Config Files
    • Parser
    • AutoDiffType
    • chain_rule
      • specific
      • generic
    • make_auto_diff_type
    • measure
    • functions
    • Helper Methods

Element data (chem)

The chem module provides data on the properties of elements and isotopes (e.g., atomic masses). It also defines solar abundance patterns as reported in various references.

Constants (const)

The const module defines a range of mathematical constants (e.g., pi), physical constants (e.g., hbar), astronomical constants (e.g., Msun), and other fixed values (e.g., version number).

Equation of state (eos)

The eos module provides the equation of state.

• Overview of eos module
• eos module controls
• eos module Interface

Opacities (kap)

The kap module provides radiative opacities combined with conductive opacities.

• Overview of kap module
• kap module controls
• kap module Interface

Nuclear reaction networks (net)

The net module implements nuclear reaction networks.

• Overview of net module
• Reaction Networks

Thermal neutrinos (neu)

The neu module provides the specific rates of energy loss via various thermal neutrino processes. (Nuclear neutrinos are handed in rates and net.)

Nuclear reaction rates (rates)

The rates module collects thermonuclear reaction rates and weak reaction rates from a range of sources.

• Overview of rates module

Turbulence (turb)

The turb module provides various mixing theories (semiconvection, thermohaline, mixing length thoery, time-dependant convection)

• Overview of turb module