The simplicity of transport: triangulating the first light

Abstract

Dark matter assembles to form massive halos, attracting gas particles that coalesce to form stars, and the photons produced by these sources are sent into the void. An accurate description of the transport of particles is therefore the essential ingredient for understanding how the Universe evolved into its present form. Of all these transport processes, the transfer of radiation is the most elusive: the non- locality and high-dimensionality of the problem currently put realistic simulations out of reach. In this thesis, we present a novel approach to this transport problem, combining methods from mathematics and statistical physics in a practical computer code. Its speed and versatility allow us, for the first time, to make realistic simulations in radiative gas dynamics and in cosmology. Because of the general mathematical/physical character of our methods, we expect them to be useful for transport phenomena in general.