Backward Monte Carlo Simulations in Radiative Heat Transfer

Abstract

Standard Monte Carlo methods trace photon bundles in a forward direction, and may become extremely inefficient when radiation onto a small spot and/or onto a small direction cone is desired. Backward tracing of photon bundles is known to alleviate this problem if the source of radiation is large, but may also fail if the radiation source is collimated and/or very small. In this paper various implementations of the backward Monte Carlo method are discussed, allowing efficient Monte Carlo simulations for problems with arbitrary radiation sources, including small collimated beams, point sources, etc., in media of arbitrary optical thickness.