Evaluating radiation transport errors in merger simulations using a Monte-Carlo algorithm

Understand

Neutrino-matter interactions play an important role in the post-merger evolution of neutron star-neutron star and black hole-neutron star mergers.

• Most notably, they determine the properties of the bright optical/infrared transients observable after a merger.
• Unfortunately, Boltzmann's equations of radiation transport remain too costly to be evolved directly in merger simulations.
• Simulations rely instead on approximate transport algorithms with unquantified modeling errors.