[Mesa-users] Differences between MESA versions

[James Wild]

Hi all,

I'm interested in cataclysmic variable stars, which have a main-sequence
donor and an accreting white dwarf primary star. I'm trying to recreate
some evolutionary tracks from this paper (https://arxiv.org/abs/1701.02738),
for which the inlists and run_binary_extras are provided here:
https://zenodo.org/record/2592806

We are trying to simulate the effects of residual magnetic braking at short
periods. This is all fine so far, and I have recreated the work from the
linked paper on mesa-r8845, but unfortunately when I try to run the same
thing on the latest version (r15140) I see a significant change.

Here is a figure:
[image: image.png]
if the embedded image doesn't work, here is a link (
https://imgur.com/a/fCIWhLA). The vertical red line is the observed turning
point that we would like the curves to mirror, but some disagreement
towards the left is expected. The concerning part for me is that the newer
code moves the tracks the wrong way. Worse, when I dial back to older
versions, I get a third track that looks even worse! (
https://imgur.com/a/nBVSJzA)

[image: image.png]

Is it prudent to trust newer versions of the code over older ones, in this
case? I am new to mesa in general, so I apologise if this question is
frequently asked!

Cheers,
James.
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