The Past and Future of the Monte Carlo Method in Thermal Radiation Transfer

Abstract Since its initial development as a specialty technique for modeling neutron transport in fissile materials almost 80 years ago, the Monte Carlo method has since been deployed in almost every area of science and engineering, including radiative transfer. This paper reviews the history and progress in Monte Carlo methods for simulating radiative energy transfer, with emphasis on advances over the past 25 years. A short historical review that emphasizes the probabilistic foundations of the method, is followed by discussions of recent extensions and applications, including variance reduction techniques, high fidelity simulations in complex media, and a discussion of unresolved issues. The article concludes with an outlook for the method as impacted by advancements in algorithm development as well as massively parallel and quantum computing.