Monte Carlo transition probabilities. II.

Free access article

Issue		A&A Volume 403, Number 1, May III 2003


Page(s)		261 - 275
Section		Formation and evolution of planetary systems
DOI		http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20030357

A&A 403, 261-275 (2003)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20030357

Monte Carlo transition probabilities. II.

L. B. Lucy

Astrophysics Group, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2AZ, UK
(Received 31 January 2003 / Accepted 6 March 2003)

Abstract
The macroscopic quantizations of matter into macro-atoms and radiant and thermal energies into r- and k-energy packets initiated in Paper I is completed with the definition of transition probabilities governing energy flows to and from the thermal pool. The resulting Monte Carlo method is then applied to the problem of computing the hydrogen spectrum of a type II supernova. This test problem is used to demonstrate the scheme's consistency as the number of energy packets ${\cal N} \rightarrow \infty$ , to investigate the accuracy of Monte Carlo estimators for radiative rates, and to illustrate the convergence characteristics of the geometry-independent, constrained $\Lambda$ -iteration method employed to obtain the NLTE stratifications of temperature and level populations. In addition, the method's potential, when combined with analytic ionization and excitation formulae, for obtaining useful approximate NLTE solutions is emphasized.

Key words: methods: numerical -- radiative transfer -- stars: atmospheres -- stars: supernovae: general -- line: formation

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