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The Viscous Decretion Disk Model of the Classical Be Star beta CMi Revisited

Publication at Faculty of Mathematics and Physics |
2017

Abstract

We revisit the viscous decretion disk (VDD) model of the classical Be star beta CMi as presented by Klement et al. (2015) using an updated version of the radiative transfer code HDUST. A software bug was causing the mean intensities to be slightly underestimated in the equatorial region of the disk with small but detectable effects on the disk temperature and emergent spectrum.

The new model fixes an unexplained feature of the original model, which was able to reproduce the observations only when considering a dual density behavior: a steep density fall-off in the very inner parts of the disk followed by a shallower density profile. The new model is able to reproduce all the observables reasonably well using a single power law for the density profile throughout the entire disk, as predicted by the VDD model.

All the other original conclusions, most importantly the reported truncation of the disk at a distance of 35 stellar equatorial radii from the central star, remain unchanged.