Algorithms and radiation dynamics for the vicinity of black holes I. Methods and codes

Abstract

We examine radiation and its effects on accretion disks orbiting astrophysical black holes. These disks are thermally radiating and can be geometrically and optically thin or thick. In this first paper of the series, we discuss the physics and the formulation required for this study. Subsequently, we construct and solve the relativistic radiative transfer equation, or find suitable solutions where that is not possible. We continue by presenting some of the accretion disks we considered for this work. We then describe the families of codes developed in order to study particle trajectories in strong gravity, calculate radiation forces exerted onto the disk material, and generate observation pictures of black hole systems at infinity. Furthermore, we also examine the veracity and accuracy of our work. Finally, we investigate how we can further use our results to estimate the black hole spin and the motion of disk material subjected to these radiation forces.