Compact stellar objects like neutron stars mark the breakdown of gravity in its classical formulation. The theory of General Relativity extends our knowledge to the realms of strong gravity. However, it requires a special - covariant - description of all the other physical effects that should be taken into account as well. For stellar objects that are usually modelled as radiating fluid bodies, the appropriate description is relativistic radiation hydrodynamics.
While the term radiation usually is associated with photons, ie. electromagnetic radiation, it covers a broader extent in the context of hydrodynamics. In fact, any particle species that moves at approximately the same, single speed, can be adequately well described as a radiative contribution. Apart from photons, this also includes for example neutrinos and hot neutrons.
1079252849 km/h, the speed of light. As tempting as it is to travel this fast, there is no hope whatsoever for us human beings to build an appropriate vehicle in the not-too-distant future, probably forever. Light-fast travel with all its bizarre and stunning effects is bound to remain a world way beyond our daily perception. Thanks to Albert Einstein's theory of Special Relativity, there's one means for us however to explore the realms of high speed voyages - the computer:
Visualizing complex matters is more than creating colorful, nice-looking pictures. When done properly, it enables common people to get a grip on advances in today's research. It's an act of socializing science.
Most methods of relativistic rendering use a geometry based approach. Input data is given as a 3D model. The final image often looks artifical. When dealing with static scenes, image based special relativistic rendering is an alternative method that can achieve photo-realism at ease. Input data must be provided as a spherical panorama taken from a fixed point in space.
The full story-my diploma thesis-is available as PDF (14MB) and gzipped PostScript (14MB). The thesis is available in German language only.
| Created: | June 30th 2000 (dk) |
| Last changed: | August 23rd 2006 (dk) |
| Contact: | kobras@tat.physik.uni-tuebingen.de |
| Theoretische Astrophysik/Computational Physics Tübingen |