Monte Carlo Radiative Transfer Simulations: Applications to Astrophysical Outflows and Explosions

TL;DR

This paper introduces a Monte Carlo radiative transfer code for simulating radiation in expanding astrophysical media, demonstrated through supernova models, highlighting its accuracy and sensitivity to approximations.

Contribution

A new Monte Carlo radiative transfer code for expanding media, applied to supernova models, with analysis of its accuracy and approximation sensitivities.

Findings

Effective simulation of supernova spectra and light curves.

Sensitivity of results to simulation approximations.

Validation of the code against observational data.

Abstract

The theory of radiative transfer provides the link between the physical conditions in an astrophysical object and the observable radiation which it emits. Thus accurately modelling radiative transfer is often a necessary part of testing theoretical models by comparison with observations. We describe a new radiative transfer code which employs Monte Carlo methods for the numerical simulation of radiation transport in expanding media. We discuss the application of this code to the calculation of synthetic spectra and light curves for a Type Ia supernova explosion model and describe the sensitivity of the results to certain approximations made in the simulations.