Riemann boundary conditions for the Boltzmann transport equation using arbitrary angular approximations

In this paper a method for resolving the various boundary conditions (BCs) for the first order Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) is described. The approach has been formulated to resolve general BCs using an arbitrary angular approximation method within any weighted residual finite element formulation. The method is based on a Riemann decomposition which is used to decompose the particles' angular dependence into in-coming and out-going information through a surface. This operation recasts the flux into a Riemann space which is used directly to remove any incoming information, and thus satisfy void boundary conditions. The method is then extended by its coupling with a set of mapping operators that redirect the outgoing flux to form incoming images resembling other specified boundary conditions. These operators are based on Galerkin projections and are defined to enable reflective and diffusive (white) BCs to be resolved. A small number of numerical examples are then presented to demonstrate the method's ability in resolving void, reflective and white BCs. These examples have been chosen in order to show the method working for arbitrary angled surfaces. Furthermore, as the method has been designed for an arbitrary angular approximation, both SN and PN calculations are presented.