Stochastic histories of refractory interstellar dust

Histories of refractory interstellar dust particles (IDPs) are calculated. The profile of a particle population is assembled from a large number of stochastic, or Monte Carlo, histories of single particles; the probabilities for each of the events that may befall a given particle are specified, and the particle's history is unfolded by a sequence of random numbers. The assumptions that are made and the techniques of the calculation are described together with the results obtained. Several technical demonstrations are presented.