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| Paper: |
Modeling the Structure of Hot Star Disks |
| Volume: |
337, The Nature and Evolution of Disks Around Hot Stars |
| Page: |
75 |
| Authors: |
Bjorkman, J.E.; Carciofi, A.C. |
| Abstract: |
We discuss the basic hydrodynamics and radiative heating that determines the structure of the disks around hot stars. Observational evidence supports the idea that these disks are Keplerian (rotationally supported) gaseous disks. The essential physics that determines the geometrical structure of Keplerian disks is reasonably well understood, at least in the case of pre-main-sequence stars. The primary result is that the disks are hydrostatically supported in the vertical direction, while the radial structure is governed by the viscosity. Since the disk is pressure-supported (in the vertical direction), the geometrical structure of the disk is determined by the radiative equilibrium temperature. To test this model, we performed 3-D NLTE Monte Carlo simulations of the radiative transfer and solved self-consistently for the structure of the disk. These simulations also calculate the emergent spectrum and its polarization. We find excellent agreement with medium resolution spectropolarimetry and IRAS observations of the classical Be star ζ Tauri, confirming that a viscous decretion disk model is fully consistent with these observations. |
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