The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society (천문학회보)
- Volume 39 Issue 2
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- Pages.86.2-86.2
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- 2014
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- 1226-2692(pISSN)
Odyssey: a new GPU-based ray-tracing code for the Kerr Spacetime
- Pu, Hung-Yi (Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica) ;
- Yun, Kiyun (Department of Astronomy and Center for Galaxy Evolution Research, Yonsei University) ;
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Yoon, Suk-Jin
(Department of Astronomy and Center for Galaxy Evolution Research, Yonsei University)
- Published : 2014.10.13
Abstract
We present a new ray-tracing code, "Odyssey", for the Kerr spacetime accelerated by the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). Taking advantage of the ability of nVidia graphic cards to evaluate trajectories of a large amount of photon simultaneously, the code is two orders of magnitude as fast as the previous CPU-based code corresponding to the speed of few nanoseconds per photon per time step. In the light of the Graphic User Interface (GUI) powered by the GPU-enhanced 2D/3D displaying technique, DirectX, it is feasible for users to manipulate diverse results such as rotating and zooming in/out the trajectories of photon instantly near the black hole. Thus the Odyssey can serve as a tool not only for scientific but also for the educational purpose. We discuss possible applications in detail in light of several results such as the shape of the silhouette of a black hole, the shape of a hot spot orbiting a black hole, and 3D photon trajectories.
Keywords