Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2022/iii/paper-315/1/a/solution

For the plane-parallel radiative transfer equation
angular integration gives the zeroth radiation-field moment equation
The net radiative heating per unit volume is therefore
Radiative equilibrium requires it to vanish, equivalently that the frequency-integrated radiative flux be independent of depth:
In local thermodynamic equilibrium with coherent isotropic scattering,
where is the single-scattering albedo. Since , the condition becomes
Conservative scattering redistributes directions but contributes no net material heating.

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