Characteristics based Radiative Transfer for Parallel Adaptive Mesh Refinement Hydrodynamics

Abstract

We present an algorithm for solving the radiative transfer problem using adaptive mesh refinement and domain decomposition for massively parallel computations. The solver is based on the method of characteristics which requires an adaptive raytracer that integrates the radiative transfer equation. The radiation field is split into local and global components which are handled separately to overcome the non-locality problem. The solver is implemented in the framework of the magnetohydrodynamical computer code FLASH and is coupled to it by an operator-splitting step. The goal is to create a numerical tool that can be used to study radiative effects in the context of star formation simulations which requires a proper treatment of radiation physics that covers both optically thin as well as optically thick regimes.