2D models for dust-driven AGB star winds

Sterrewacht Leiden, PO Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands e-mail: woitke@strw.leidenuniv.nl

Received: 14 September 2005
Accepted: 1 March 2006

Abstract

New axisymmetric (2D) models for dust-driven winds of C-stars are presented which include hydrodynamics with radiation pressure on dust, equilibrium chemistry and time-dependent dust formation with coupled grey Monte Carlo radiative transfer. Considering the simplest case without stellar pulsation (hydrostatic inner boundary condition) these models reveal a more complex picture of the dust formation and wind acceleration than earlier published spherically symmetric (1D) models. The so-called exterior κ-mechanism causes radial oscillations with short phases of active dust formation between longer phases without appreciable dust formation, just like in the 1D models. However, in 2D geometry, the oscillations can be out-of-phase at different places above the stellar atmosphere which results in the formation of dust arcs or smaller caps that only occupy a certain fraction of the total solid angle. These dust structures are accelerated outward by radiation pressure, expanding radially and tangentially like mushroom clouds, while dust-poor matter is falling back towards the star at other places. A highly dynamical and turbulent dust formation zone is created in this way, which again leads to inhomogeneous dust production. Further away from the star, flow instabilities (e.g. Rayleigh-Taylor) have time to fragment the outward moving arcs and shells to produce numerous small-scale cloud-like sub-structures.