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Table 2

Overview of the suitability of gravitational dynamics solvers for different gravitational regimes.

Code Small N Intermediate N Large N Large N Centrally dominated Post-Newtonian
(collisional) (collisional) (collisional) (collisionless)

Hermite0 + + ° ° °
PhiGRAPE + + + ° °
ph4 + + + ° °
BHTree +
Octgrav +
Bonsai +
Twobody N = 2 +
Huayno + + + ° °
SmallN +
Mercury +
Mikkola + +
MI6 + + + + +
Pikachu + + + +
Brutus + +
HiGPUs + + °
Tupan + + ° ° ° +
MMC +
Fi +
Gadget2 +

Notes.A + indicates that a codes is well suited to a particular regime, a − indicates that the code will fail or run very inefficiently, a ° indicates a limited capability; “small N” means a problem with a small number of bodies, N ≈ 2−100, “intermediate N” means N ≈ 100−104, “large N” means N ≳ 104, “collisionless” indicates gravitational dynamics with some form of softening, “collisional” means simulations without softening. “Centrally dominated” means problems were the dynamics is dominated by a massive central object, such as a solar system or cluster with a supermassive black hole. “Post-Newtonian” indicates whether the code includes post-Newtonian correction terms. Note this table does not address special requirements set by the timescales or the dynamic range of a problem, nor the choice of parameters that may affect the solutions.

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