AN ANALYTIC MODEL OF DUSTY, STRATIFIED, SPHERICAL H ii REGIONS

Abstract

We study analytically the effect of radiation pressure (associated with photoionization processes and with dust absorption) on spherical, hydrostatic H ii regions. We consider two basic equations, one for the hydrostatic balance between the radiation-pressure components and the gas pressure, and another for the balance among the recombination rate, the dust absorption, and the ionizing photon rate. Based on appropriate mathematical approximations, we find a simple analytic solution for the density stratification of the nebula, which is defined by specifying the radius of the external boundary, the cross section of dust absorption, and the luminosity of the central star. We compare the analytic solution with numerical integrations of the model equations of Draine, and find a wide range of the physical parameters for which the analytic solution is accurate.