Arepo Simulation Blueprint

Define your scientific question

• State a single, clear scientific objective for this simulation.
• Identify 2–3 quantitative diagnostics that will tell you whether the objective is met.
• Set explicit success criteria before allocating compute resources.

Choose physics and modules

• Start with a minimal configuration — gravity + hydrodynamics only.
• Add additional modules (cooling, MHD, RT, feedback) one at a time.
• Record every module change in a run manifest so each configuration is reproducible.

Set up domain and resolution

• Size the simulation box to match the physical scales you care about.
• Choose mass and spatial resolutions based on what you need to measure.
• Run at least one lower-resolution pilot to check numerical convergence.

Prepare initial conditions and outputs

• Version-control your IC generation scripts and the resulting IC files.
• Configure heavy snapshots and lightweight diagnostics on separate output schedules.
• Make sure you have enough storage allocated for snapshots, logs, and restart files.

Pre-production checklist

• Have a colleague review all runtime parameters.
• Verify that a test run completes and restarts cleanly.
• Estimate walltime and node requirements from pilot profiling data.