Introduction

Introduction

Python is a hybrid Monte Carlo/Sobolev radiative transfer code that works by following the progress of energy packets through a simulation grid of arbitrary size, shape and discretization. For the simulations described here, we utilize an azimuthally symmetric cylindrical grid. Energy packets are characterized by a frequency and a weight, defined so that the sum of all packets correctly represents the luminosity and spectral energy distribution of all radiation sources in the model. The thermal and ionization structure of a wind model is computed iteratively through a series of ‘ionization cycles’. During each cycle, energy packets are tracked through the wind and their effect on the wind’s temperature and ionization state is computed. Once the ionization structure of the wind has been determined, a series of ‘spectral cycles’ are executed, in which synthetic spectra are generated at specific inclination angles.

Python has been used with application to CVs, AGN and YSOs.