Abstract and subjects
The usual Monte Carlo approach to the thermal radiative transfer problem is to view Monte Carlo as a solution technique for the nonlinear thermal radiative transfer equations. The equations contain time derivatives which are approximated by introducing small time steps. An alternative approach avoids time steps by using Monte Carlo to directly sample the time at which the next event occurs. That is, the time is advanced on a natural event-by-event basis rather than by introducing an artificial time step.