Open AccessMass‐loss rates for hot luminous stars: the influence of line branching
Author(s) -
Sim S. A.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07562.x
Subject(s) - physics , stars , astrophysics , branching (polymer chemistry) , monte carlo method , astronomy , statistics , materials science , mathematics , composite material
The effect of photon frequency redistribution by line branching on mass‐loss rates for hot luminous stars is investigated. Monte Carlo simulations are carried out for a range of OB star models which show that previous mass‐loss calculations which neglect non‐resonance line scattering overestimate mass‐loss rates for luminous O stars by ∼20 per cent. For luminous B stars the effect is somewhat larger, typically ∼50 per cent. A Wolf–Rayet star model is used to investigate line branching in the strong wind limit. In this case the effect of line branching is much greater, giving mass‐loss rates that are smaller by a factor ∼3 from computations which neglect branching.