Interaction between radiation and stellar outflows

A method for solving the equations of radiative transfer for spherical stars is presented. The process was developed originally for stellar outflows from red giants, but was then extended to any spherically symmetric system, including early-type stars. The equations of radiative transfer are coupled with the dynamical equation, where the radiation field in the stellar atmosphere is expanded as a Legendre series. Then, if one knows the opacity of the stellar atmosphere for a wide range of wavelengths, one can calculate the dynamics of the stellar wind. The opacity may stem from spectral lines or from dust absorption and scattering.