Stellar Atmospheres Near an AGN: The Importance of Radiation Pressure from Trapped Lyman-alpha Photons

Weihsueh A. Chiu, B. T. Draine

Published 1998-03-18Version 1

We derive an analytic expression for the intensity of resonance-line radiation ``trapped'' in a semi-infinite medium. Given a source function and destruction probability per scattering, the radiation pressure due to trapped photons can be calculated by numerically integrating over analytic functions. We apply this formalism to a plane-parallel model stellar atmosphere to calculate the radiation pressure due to Lyman-alpha photons produced following absorption of UV and X-rays from an AGN. For low surface gravity stars near the AGN (g~10 cm/sec^2, r~0.25 pc), we find that the pressure due to Lyman-alpha photons becomes an appreciable fraction of that required for hydrostatic support. If the broad emission line emitting gas in AGNs and QSOs consists of stellar outflows, it may be driven, in part, by Lyman-alpha pressure.