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Kinetics of electron-positron pair plasmas using an adaptive Monte Carlo method
A new algorithm for implementing the adaptive Monte Carlo method is given. It
is used to solve the relativistic Boltzmann equations that describe the time
evolution of a nonequilibrium electron-positron pair plasma containing
high-energy photons and pairs. The collision kernels for the photons as well as
pairs are constructed for Compton scattering, pair annihilation and creation,
bremsstrahlung, and Bhabha & Moller scattering. For a homogeneous and isotropic
plasma, analytical equilibrium solutions are obtained in terms of the initial
conditions. For two non-equilibrium models, the time evolution of the photon
and pair spectra is determined using the new method. The asymptotic numerical
solutions are found to be in a good agreement with the analytical equilibrium
states. Astrophysical applications of this scheme are discussed.Comment: 43 pages, 7 postscript figures, to appear in the Astrophysical
Journa