Radiation-driven magnetohydrodynamic wind solutions for hot luminous stars

Solutions for the stellar winds of hot luminous stars are obtained by solving the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations combined with the radiatively driven outflow formalism given by Castor, Abbott, & Klein. We consider the interaction of radiation pressure and collimated magnetic fields for a no...

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Autores principales: Rotstein, N., De Castro, C.G.G.
Formato: JOUR
Materias:
MHD
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_0004637X_v464_n2PARTI_p859_Rotstein
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Sumario:Solutions for the stellar winds of hot luminous stars are obtained by solving the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations combined with the radiatively driven outflow formalism given by Castor, Abbott, & Klein. We consider the interaction of radiation pressure and collimated magnetic fields for a nonrotating star. The streamline shape has been prescribed from a phenomenological point of view. In order to decouple the MHD equations, we assume all the lines contributing to the radiation pressure are optically thick. Spherically and nonspherically symmetric mass distributions are considered. In both cases, the dependence of the terminal velocity on the star luminosity and magnetic strength is discussed. It is found that the terminal flow speed is strongly affected by slight variations of both the luminosity and the mass distribution asymmetry but shows a weak correlation with the magnetic field intensity. The present formalism can be thought of as a wide generalization of the MHD solutions introduced by Low & Tsinganos. Highly collimated magnetic structures, as well as rotation, are considered in another paper. © 1996. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.