Artificial viscosity—then and now

The article 'Artificial viscosity—then and now' celebrates the centennial anniversary of Richard Becker’s seminal paper on shock structure, emphasizing the role of dissipation in accurately modeling finite shock structure. It delves into the history of artificial viscosity, from its early use in computer simulations to its theoretical underpinnings in the finite scale theory. The focus is on the ideas underlying artificial viscosity, both as a numerical strategy and as a physical phenomenon. The article reviews the contributions of key figures such as Rudolf Peierls, Robert Richtmyer, John von Neumann, Rolf Landshoff, and William Noh, and discusses current research aimed at improving the application of artificial viscosity. It concludes with a brief summary and thoughts on future developments, highlighting the close connection between theory and successful numerical algorithms in computational fluid dynamics.