Ray tracing is a computer graphics rendering technique that simulates the physical behavior of light to produce highly realistic images. It works by tracing the path of individual rays of light from a virtual camera through each pixel on the screen and into the 3D scene, calculating how these rays interact with objects by reflecting, refracting, or being absorbed. This process determines the color and brightness of each pixel, resulting in effects like realistic shadows, reflections, refractions, soft shadows, ambient occlusion, and more

. Unlike traditional rendering methods that approximate lighting, ray tracing models light transport more accurately by simulating the way light bounces around a scene. Rays are cast from the viewer's perspective into the scene, and when they hit objects, the algorithm calculates how light behaves at those points, including multiple bounces if necessary. This approach is computationally intensive but produces photorealistic images

. Historically, ray tracing was used mainly for offline rendering in films and CGI due to its high computational cost. However, since around 2018, hardware acceleration has enabled real-time ray tracing in video games and interactive applications, allowing a hybrid of ray tracing and traditional rasterization techniques to deliver realistic lighting effects with manageable performance

. In summary, ray tracing is a rendering method that simulates the physical behavior of light by tracing rays through a scene to create visually accurate images with realistic lighting, shadows, and reflections, enhancing the visual fidelity of digital graphics