Monte Carlo methods for stationary solutions of general-relativistic Vlasov systems: Collisionless accretion onto black holes

Abstract

We develop a Monte Carlo simulation method for computing stationary solutions of the general-relativistic Vlasov equation describing a gas of non-colliding particles. As specific examples, we select planar or spherically symmetric accretion models on the Schwarzschild background spacetime. In all cases the gas extends to infinity, which poses an additional difficulty in the Monte Carlo approach. We discuss models with monoenergetic particles as well as solutions obeying the Maxwell-J\"{u}ttner distribution at infinity. For all models, exact expressions for the particle current density are known or can be computed analytically. We demonstrate perfect agreement between exact expressions for the particle current density and the results of our Monte Carlo simulations.