Monte Carlo Simulations of Externally Illuminated DisksJennifer L. Hoffman, Barbara A. Whitney, Kenneth Wood, and Kenneth H. Nordsieck |
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Since Monte Carlo radiative transfer methods provide
straightforward numerical modeling of the interaction of light with matter
in complex configurations, they
are ideal tools for investigating accretion-disk systems. Most previous
Monte Carlo treatments of disk scattering have considered the problem
of a disk illuminated by a central source (e.g. Wood et al. 1996,
Whitney and Hartmann 1992). In this study, we apply a Monte Carlo code
to the case of a geometrically thick disk illuminated from outside,
for example, by a binary companion to the disk's central star. The
results may help decipher the structural complexities of binary systems
such as Beta Lyrae, where it is unclear whether the light polarized by
scattering arises from the secondary star within the disk or from the
external primary star
(Hoffman, Nordsieck, & Fox 1998). |
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For more information, please send email to Jennifer. September 22, 2002 |