Benchmark problems for continuum radiative transfer. High optical depths, anisotropic scattering, and polarisation

By C. Pinte, Tim Harries, M. Min, Alan M. Watson, C. Dullemond, P. Woitke, François Ménard, M. C. Duran-Rojas. 2009

245 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Solving the continuum radiative transfer equation in high opacity media requires sophisticated numerical tools. In order to test the reliability of such tools, we present a benchmark of radiative transfer codes in a 2D disc configuration. We test the accuracy of seven independently developed radiative transfer codes by comparing the temperature structures, spectral energy distributions, scattered light images, and linear polarisation maps that each model predicts for a variety of disc opacities and viewing angles. The test cases have been chosen to be numerically challenging, with midplane optical depths up 10^6, a sharp density transition at the inner edge and complex scattering matrices. We also review recent progress in the implementation of the Monte Carlo method that allow an efficient solution to these kinds of problems and discuss the advantages and limitations of Monte Carlo codes compared to those of discrete ordinate codes. For each of the test cases, the predicted results from the radiative transfer codes are within good agreement. The results indicate that these codes can be confidently used to interpret present and future observations of protoplanetary discs.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/cacbb61b8f03f761cf32e4b22fe65889537f345c

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In Astronomy and Astrophysics

1. Simon Bruderer
2. G. Herczeg
3. E. Dishoeck
4. E. Bergin
5. C. Dullemond
6. L. Testi
7. S. Doty
8. W. Thi

Citations in the corpus

• Unveiling the gas-and-dust disk structure in HD 163296 using ALMA observations (2013, methodology): “To extend beyond the simple power-law fitting, the threedimensional Monte Carlo radiative transfer code MCFOST was used to model the data presented in this work (see Pinte et al. 2006, 2009 for a more detailed description).”
• DUST AND GAS IN THE DISK OF HL TAURI: SURFACE DENSITY, DUST SETTLING, AND DUST-TO-GAS RATIO (2015, methodology): “For each of these models, synthetic MCFOST images were calculated, visibilities computed using the CASA simulator and the total χ2 calculated.”
• Direct mapping of the temperature and velocity gradients in discs Imaging the vertical CO snow line around IM Lupi (2017, methodology): “We use the Monte Carlo radiative transfer code MCFOST (Pinte et al. 2006, 2009) to build a simple model of the CO emission.”
• Survival of molecular gas in cavities of transition disks - I. CO (2013, methodology): “Following a suggestion by Pinte et al. (2009), photon packages are mirrored back from very optically thick regions in the midplane where opacities at the peak wavelength of the star are τ > 1000.”
• The warm gas atmosphere of the HD 100546 disk seen by Herschel - Evidence of a gas-rich, carbon-poor atmosphere? (2012, methodology): “As a second benchmark problem, we calculate the dust temperature in a protoplanetary disk with very high total optical depth (Pinte et al. 2009).”
• The Inner Regions of Protoplanetary Disks (2010, methodology): “Improvements in the efficiency of these methods, however, have made this problem less serious in recent years (see e.g. Min et al. 2009 and Pinte et al. 2009).”
• Three-Dimensional Dust Radiative Transfer ∗ (2013, methodology): “Several 2D continuum RT applications use RayT solvers (see, e.g., the benchmark comparison in Pinte et al. 2009), and 3D RayT is based on many techniques first developed in 2D.”
• Kinematic Evidence for an Embedded Protoplanet in a Circumstellar Disk (2018, methodology): “Software: CASA(McMullinetal.2007),phantom(Price et al. 2017), splash (Price 2007), mcfost (Pinte et al. 2006, 2009).”
• EXCLUSION OF COSMIC RAYS IN PROTOPLANETARY DISKS: STELLAR AND MAGNETIC EFFECTS (2013, methodology): “With that established, we have created a 2D azimuthally symmetric model of a disk with the radiation transfer capabilities of the TORUS code (Harries 2000; Harries et al. 2004; Kurosawa et al. 2004; Pinte et al. 2009).”
• Comparing the statistics of interstellar turbulence in simulations and observations - Solenoidal versus compressive turbulence forcing (2009, unknown): “A full radiative transfer calculation taking account of the level population (e.g., Keto et al. 2004; Steinacker et al. 2006; Pinte et al. 2009; Hauschildt & Baron 2009; Baron et al. 2009) of self-consistently formed and evolved chemical tracer molecules (e.g., Glover & Mac Low 2007a,b) would be…”