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Register a new userThe effect of horizontal plasma inhomogeneities in 3D NLTE radiation transfer in stellar atmospheres
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Ji\\v{r}\\'i Kub\\'at
Publication date
2019
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
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{We aim to demonstrate the effect of atmospheric inhomogeneities on the emergent specific intensity and radiation flux of a spectral line radiation.} {We self-consistently solve the NLTE problem for a two-level atom in a 3D atmosphere using the Cartesian grid. For that purpose, we use the 3D radiative transfer code PORTA. By examining simple examples, we study cases where the temperature inhomogeneities in the atmosphere models lead to the modification of the emergent radiation.} {We show that specific temperature inhomogeneities in the model atmospheres influence the emerging radiation, and that interpretation of the stellar spectra based on a plane-parallel atmosphere models can lead to erroneous conclusions about the atmospheric structure.}
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We obtained K-band spectro-interferometric observations of the Miras R Cnc, X Hya, W Vel, and RW Vel with a spectral resolution of 1500 using the VLTI/AMBER instrument. We obtained concurrent JHKL photometry using the the Mk II instrument at the SAAO. Our sources have wavelength-dependent visibility values that are consistent with earlier low-resolution AMBER observations of S Ori and with the predictions of dynamic model atmosphere series based on self-excited pulsation models. The wavelength-dependent UD diameters show a minimum near the near-continuum bandpass at 2.25 um. They increase by up to 30% toward the H2O band at 2.0 um and by up to 70% at the CO bandheads. The dynamic model atmosphere series show a consistent wavelength-dependence, and their parameters such as the visual phase, effective temperature, and distances are consistent with independent estimates. The closure phases have significantly wavelength-dependent non-zero values indicating deviations from point symmetry. For example, the R Cnc closure phase is 110 degr in the 2.0 um H2O band, corresponding for instance to an additional unresolved spot contributing 3% of the total flux at a separation of ~4 mas. Our observations are consistent with the predictions of the latest dynamic model atmosphere series based on self-excited pulsation models. The wavelength-dependent radius variations are interpreted as the effect of molecular layers. The wavelength-dependent closure phase values are indicative of deviations from point symmetry at all wavelengths, thus a complex non-spherical stratification of the extended atmosphere. In particular, the significant deviation from point symmetry in the H2O band is interpreted as a signature on large scales of inhomogeneities or clumps in the water vapor layer. The observed inhomogeneities might be caused by pulsation- and shock-induced chaotic motion in the extended atmosphere.
We present the implementation of a radiative transfer solver with coherent scattering in the new BIFROST code for radiative magneto-hydrodynamical (MHD) simulations of stellar surface convection. The code is fully parallelized using MPI domain decomposition, which allows for large grid sizes and improved resolution of hydrodynamical structures. We apply the code to simulate the surface granulation in a solar-type star, ignoring magnetic fields, and investigate the importance of coherent scattering for the atmospheric structure. A scattering term is added to the radiative transfer equation, requiring an iterative computation of the radiation field. We use a short-characteristics-based Gauss-Seidel acceleration scheme to compute radiative flux divergences for the energy equation. The effects of coherent scattering are tested by comparing the temperature stratification of three 3D time-dependent hydrodynamical atmosphere models of a solar-type star: without scattering, with continuum scattering only, and with both continuum and line scattering. We show that continuum scattering does not have a significant impact on the photospheric temperature structure for a star like the Sun. Including scattering in line-blanketing, however, leads to a decrease of temperatures by about 350,K below log tau < -4. The effect is opposite to that of 1D hydrostatic models in radiative equilibrium, where scattering reduces the cooling effect of strong LTE lines in the higher layers of the photosphere. Coherent line scattering also changes the temperature distribution in the high atmosphere, where we observe stronger fluctuations compared to a treatment of lines as true absorbers.
We have updated our publicly available dust radiative transfer code (HOCHUNK3D) to include new emission processes and various 3-D geometries appropriate for forming stars. The 3-D geometries include warps and spirals in disks, accretion hotspots on the central star, fractal clumping density enhancements, and misaligned inner disks. Additional axisymmetric (2-D) features include gaps in disks and envelopes, puffed-up inner rims in disks, multiple bipolar cavity walls, and iteration of disk vertical structure assuming hydrostatic equilibrium. We include the option for simple power-law envelope geometry, which combined with fractal clumping, and bipolar cavities, can be used to model evolved stars as well as protostars. We include non-thermal emission from PAHs and very small grains, and external illumination from the interstellar radiation field. The grid structure was modified to allow multiple dust species in each cell; based on this, a simple prescription is implemented to model dust stratification. We describe these features in detail, and show example calculations of each. Some of the more interesting results include the following: 1) Outflow cavities may be more clumpy than infalling envelopes. 2) PAH emission in high-mass stars may be a better indicator of evolutionary stage than the broadband SED slope; and related to this, 3) externally illuminated clumps and high-mass stars in optically thin clouds can masquerade as YSOs. 4) Our hydrostatic equilibrium models suggest that dust settling is likely ubiquitous in T Tauri disks, in agreement with previous observations.
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Stellar interiors are the seat of efficient transport of angular momentum all along their evolution. Understanding the dependence of the turbulent transport triggered by the shear instabilities due to the differential rotation in stellar radiation zones is mandatory. Indeed, it constitutes one of the cornerstones of the rotational transport and mixing theory which is implemented in stellar evolution codes to predict the rotational and chemical evolutions of stars. We investigate horizontal shear instabilities in stellar radiation zones by considering the full Coriolis acceleration with both the dimensionless horizontal component $tilde{f}$ and the vertical component $f$. We performed a linear stability analysis for a horizontal shear flow with a hyperbolic tangent profile, both numerically and asymptotically using the WKBJ approximation. As in the traditional approximation, we identified the inflectional and inertial instabilities. The inflectional instability is destabilized as $tilde{f}$ increases and its maximum growth rate increases significantly, while the thermal diffusivity stabilizes the inflectional instability similarly to the traditional case. The inertial instability is also strongly affected; for instance, the inertially unstable regime is extended in the non-diffusive limit as $0<f<1+tilde{f}^{2}/N^{2}$, where $N$ is the dimensionless Brunt-Vaisala frequency. More strikingly, in the high-thermal-diffusivity limit, it is always inertially unstable at any colatitude $theta$ except at the poles (i.e., $0^{circ}<theta<180^{circ}$). Using the asymptotic and numerical results, we propose a prescription for the effective turbulent viscosities induced by the instabilities to be possibly used in stellar evolution models. The characteristic time of this turbulence is short enough to redistribute efficiently angular momentum and mix chemicals in the radiation zones.
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