Description
Radiative transfer is a cornerstone of astrophysics, providing a key tool to model and interpret observations of distant structures, for most of which any form of in situ measurement in impossible. Whilst simplifying approximations are often possible, there are many instances where the observed radiation forms in optically thick plasma outside of local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) conditions necessitating detailed and computationally costly treatments of atomic spectral lines where separate regions are connected by a global radiation field.
Astronomy is not the only field that interests itself with the solution of the radiative transfer equation and the propagation of light: the field of computer graphics has long sought efficient approximations to this problem.
In this talk, I will present the DexRT radiative transfer program, a modern and open GPU-accelerated tool for the multidimensional non-LTE radiative transfer problem, and discuss the importance of looking to other fields for enhancements and optimisations. I will also present an overview of our development strategy and plans to minimise maintenance costs.
