Reflections on Scattered Light:
Monte Carlo Modeling of the Flux and Polarization Curves of beta Lyrae

Jennifer L. Hoffman, Barbara A. Whitney, and Kenneth H. Nordsieck

poster presented at
IAU Colloquium 175: “The Be Phenomenon in Early-Type Stars”
Alicante, Spain, June 1999

2000 ASP Conf. Ser. 214, 464
Postscript (328K)
PDF (161K)

also presented at the 194th American Astronomical Society meeting
 
Polarimetry has proven to be a useful observational tool in the study of Be stars. In recent years, Monte Carlo radiative transfer methods have often been used in modeling polarimetric measurements, since they allow accurate predictions of flux and polarization via numerical simulation of the interaction of light with matter, even in systems with complex configurations. We have extended these two complementary techniques to the investigation of binary Be stars by developing a Monte Carlo code that models the flux and polarization phase curves of a binary-disk system. We here present the latest results matching geometrical model configurations with our own spectropolarimetric observations of the Algol binary beta Lyrae.
 
For more information, please send email to Jennifer.
December 2, 2005