Ivan Hubeny is a senior research scientist at the Steward Observatory and adjunct professor in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Arizona. Dimitri Mihalas (1939â2013) was an astrophysicist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. His many books include Stellar Atmospheres and Foundations of Radiation Hydrodynamics.
"It is an excellent guide for anyone interested in radiation transport and spectral analyses in astrophysics."--Claudia-Veronika Meister, Zentralblatt MATH
"This eagerly anticipated book is an excellent guide for anyone interested in radiation transport in astrophysics, as well as for those wanting to make detailed analyses of astrophysical spectra. Comprehensive, lucid, and stimulating, Theory of Stellar Atmospheres is ideal for students and scientists alike."--Bengt Gustafsson, Uppsala University
"Theory of Stellar Atmospheres will become âThe Bookâ in this field, supplanting all others. Every serious student and researcher in astrophysics should own a copy. Hubeny and Mihalas constitute the dream team for this subject, having worked in the area for their entire careers and made fundamental and important contributions."--James M. Stone, Princeton University
"Theory of Stellar Atmospheres is the standard by which other books in the field will be judged."--Don Winget, University of Texas at Austin
"This is an impressive book. Hubeny and Mihalas review the statistical mechanics of matter and radiation; the absorption, emission, and scattering of radiation; and line broadening in the context of the non-equilibrium structure of a stellar atmosphere. They summarize the early fundamental work in the field, and give a detailed account of the methods needed to calculate and study stellar spectra."--Eugene H. Avrett, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
"A magisterial work that will surely be the definitive reference for many years to come."--Ian D. Howarth, The Observatory
Chapter 1. Why Study Stellar Atmospheres? 1
1.1 A Historical Précis 1
1.2 The Bottom Line 15
Chapter 2. Observational Foundations 20
2.1 What Is a Stellar Atmosphere? 20
2.2 Spectroscopy 23
2.3 Spectrophotometry 29
2.4 Photometry 32
2.5 Mass, Luminosity, and Radius 46
2.6 Interpretation of Color-Magnitude Diagrams 53
Chapter 3. Radiation 61
3.1 Specific Intensity 61
3.2 Mean Intensity and Energy Density 65
3.3 Radiation Flux 72
3.4 Radiation Pressure Tensor 75
3.5 * Transformation Properties of I, E, F, P 78
3.6 Quantum Theory of Radiation in Vacuum 80
Chapter 4. Statistical Mechanics of Matter and Radiation 86
4.1 Thermodynamic Equilibrium 86
4.2 Boltzmann Statistics 88
4.3 Thermal Radiation 98
4.4 Quantum Statistics 103
4.5 Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium 111
Chapter 5. Absorption and Emission of Radiation 113
5.1 Absorption and Thermal Emission 114
5.2 Detailed Balance 116
5.3 Bound-Bound Absorption Probability 121
5.4 Bound-Bound Emission Probability 130
5.5 Photoionization 136
5.6 Free-Free Transitions 137
Chapter 6. Continuum Scattering 144
6.1 Thomson Scattering: Classical Analysis 145
6.2 Thomson Scattering: Quantum Mechanical Analysis 150
6.3 * Rayleigh and Raman Scattering 153
6.4 Compton Scattering 159
6.5 Compton Scattering in the Early Universe 165
Chapter 7. Atomic and Molecular Absorption Cross Sections 170
7.1 Hydrogen and Hydrogenic Ions 171
7.2 Multi-Electron Atoms 192
7.3 Molecules 208
Chapter 8. Spectral Line Broadening 228
8.1 Natural Damping Profile 228
8.2 Doppler Broadening: Voigt Function 231
8.3 Semiclassical Impact Theory 233
8.4 Statistical Theory: Quasi-Static Approximation 241
8.5 * Quantum Theory of Line Broadening 248
8.6 Applications 258
Chapter 9. Kinetic Equilibrium Equations 262
9.1 LTE versus Non-LTE 262
9.2 General Formulation 264
9.3 Transition Rates 267
9.4 Level Dissolution and Occupation Probabilities 278
9.5 Complete Rate Equations 282
Chapter 10. Scattering of Radiation in Spectral Lines 290
10.1 Semiclassical (Weisskopf-Woolley) Picture 291
10.2 * Quantum Mechanical Derivation of Redistribution Functions 301
10.3 Basic Redistribution Functions 308
10.4 More Complex Redistribution Functions 321
10.5 Emission Coefficient 327
Chapter 11. Radiative Transfer Equation 334
11.1 Absorption, Emission, and Scattering Coefficients 334
11.2 Formulation 339
11.3 Moments of the Transfer Equation 347
11.4 Time-Independent, Static, Planar Atmospheres 352
11.5 Schwarzschild-Milne Equations 361
11.6 Second-Order Form of the Transfer Equation 367
11.7 Discretization 370
11.8 Probabilistic Interpretation 373
11.9 Diffusion Limit 374
Chapter 12. Direct Solution of the Transfer Equation 378
12.1 The Problem of Scattering 379
12.2 Feautrier's Method 387
12.3 Rybicki's Method 397
12.4 Formal Solution 400
12.5 Variable Eddington Factors 418
Chapter 13. Iterative Solution of the Transfer Equation 421
13.1 Accelerated Lambda Iteration: A Heuristic View 421
13.2 Iteration Methods and Convergence Properties 425
13.3 Accelerated Lambda Iteration (ALI) 434
13.4 Acceleration of Convergence 440
13.5 Astrophysical Implementation 443
Chapter 14. NLTE Two-Level and Multi-Level Atoms 448
14.1 Formulation 448
14.2 Two-Level Atom 457
14.3 Approximate Solutions 471
14.4 Equivalent-Two-Level-Atom Approach 482
14.5 Numerical Solution of the Multi-level Atom Problem 488
14.6 Physical Interpretation 505
Chapter 15. Radiative Transfer with Partial Redistribution 511
15.1 Formulation 511
15.2 Simple Heuristic Model 515
15.3 Approximate Solutions 519
15.4 Exact Solutions 524
15.5 Multi-level Atoms 533
15.6 Applications 539
Chapter 16. Structural Equations 546
16.1 Equations of Hydrodynamics 546
16.2 1D Flow 554
16.3 1D Steady Flow 555
16.4 StaticAtmospheres 557
16.5 Convection 558
16.6 Stellar Interiors 565
Chapter 17. LTE Model Atmospheres 569
17.1 Gray Atmosphere 569
17.2 Equation of State 588
17.3 Non-Gray LTE Radiative-Equilibrium Models 593
17.4 Models with Convection 604
17.5 LTE Spectral Line Formation 606
17.6 Line Blanketing 620
17.7 Models with External Irradiation 627
17.8 Available Modeling Codes and Grids 631
Chapter 18. Non-LTE Model Atmospheres 633
18.1 Overview of Basic Equations 633
18.2 Complete Linearization 645
18.3 Overview of Possible Iterative Methods 660
18.4 Application of ALI and Related Methods 667
18.5 NLTE Metal Line Blanketing 676
18.6 Applications: Modeling Codes and Grids 684
Chapter 19. Extended and Expanding Atmospheres 691
19.1 Extended Atmospheres 691
19.2 Moving Atmospheres: Observer's-Frame Formulation 705
19.3 Moving Atmospheres: Comoving-Frame Formulation 713
19.4 Moving Atmospheres: Mixed-Frame Formulation 736
19.5 Sobolev Approximation 743
19.6 NLTE Line Formation 754
Chapter 20. Stellar Winds 764
20.1 Qualitative Picture 765
20.2 Thermally DrivenWinds 766
20.3 Radiation-Driven Winds 772
20.4 Global Model Atmospheres 800
Appendix A. Relativistic Particles 815
A.1 Kinematics and Dynamics of Point Particles 815
A.2 Relativistic Kinetic Theory 822
Appendix B. Photons 829
B.1 Lorentz Transformation of the Photon Four-Momentum 829
B.2 Photon Distribution Function 830
B.3 Thomas Transformations 831
Glossary of Symbols 833
Bibliography 849
Index 915