A Comparison of Moment Closures for Linear Kinetic Transport Equations: The Line Source Benchmark

Abstract

We discuss several moment closure models for linear kinetic equations that have been developed over the past few years as alternatives to classical spectral and collocation methods. We then present numerical simulation results for a challenging benchmark problem known as the line source and observe the relative strengths and weaknesses of each closure. The results should prove useful for application scientists in making decisions about which methods are best suited to a given problem. They also provide a guide to help numerical experts who are interested in developing new, improved methods.