The Lightweaver Framework for NLTE Radiative Transfer in Python

Tools for computing detailed optically thick spectral line profiles out of local thermodynamic equilibrium have always been focused on speed, due to the large computational effort involved. With the Lightweaver framework, we have produced a more flexible, modular toolkit for building custom tools in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inarXiv.org
Main Authors Osborne, Christopher M J, Milić, Ivan
Format Paper Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 30.06.2021
Subjects
High level languages
Line spectra
Local thermodynamic equilibrium
Numerical methods
Physics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Physics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Programming languages
Radiative transfer
Software
Toolkits
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Summary:Tools for computing detailed optically thick spectral line profiles out of local thermodynamic equilibrium have always been focused on speed, due to the large computational effort involved. With the Lightweaver framework, we have produced a more flexible, modular toolkit for building custom tools in a high-level language, Python, without sacrificing speed against the current state of the art. The goal of providing a more flexible method for constructing these complex simulations is to decrease the barrier to entry and allow more rapid exploration of the field. In this paper we present an overview of the theory of optically thick NLTE radiative transfer, the numerical methods implemented in Lightweaver including the problems of time-dependent populations and charge-conservation, as well as an overview of the components most users will interact with, to demonstrate their flexibility.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.2107.00475