Publications
of the
MPIfR
Optical & Infrared
Interferometry Group
A. Wachter, K.-P. Schröder, J.M.
Winters:
An improved mass-loss description for
dust-driven superwinds
in
Cool Stars, Stellar Systems, and the Sun,
,
12th Cambridge Workshop 'The Future of Cool-Star Astrophysics' (2001), p. 1030-1035 (2003)
Abstract.
We consider the mass loss of stars during the final stages of their
evolution. Our mass loss description for the tip-AGB is based on
pulsating wind models in which the mass loss is driven by radiation
pressure on dust grains, for a C-rich chemistry. From a grid of
these models an improved approximative mass-loss rate formula has
been derived which depends on the stellar parameters: effective
temperature, luminosity, and mass only. The dependence of the
mass-loss rate on the pulsation period has been taken into account
by applying the observed period-luminosity relation for C-rich
Miras. Since the wind models treat in detail the chemistry and
micro-physics of the dust formation process, the resulting mass-loss
rate depends strongly on the stellar effective temperature,
reflecting the sensitivity of the dust formation process on the
local thermodynamic conditions.