@inproceedings{Townsend2007, author = {Townsend, R. H. D.}, title = {Techniques for simulating radiative transfer through porous media}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-17866}, year = {2007}, abstract = {In this contribution, I discuss some basic techniques that can be used to simulate radiative transfer through porous media. As specific examples, I consider scattering transfer through a clumped slab, and X-ray emission line formation in a clumped wind.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{CohenLeuteneggerTownsend2007, author = {Cohen, David H. and Leutenegger, M. A. and Townsend, R. H. D.}, title = {Quantitative analysis of resolved X-ray emission line profiles of O stars}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-18115}, year = {2007}, abstract = {By quantitatively fitting simple emission line profile models that include both atomic opacity and porosity to the Chandra X-ray spectrum of ζ Pup, we are able to explore the trade-offs between reduced mass-loss rates and wind porosity. We find that reducing the mass-loss rate of ζ Pup by roughly a factor of four, to 1.5 × 10-6 M⊙ yr-1, enables simple non-porous wind models to provide good fits to the data. If, on the other hand, we take the literature mass-loss rate of 6×10-6 M⊙ yr-1, then to produce X-ray line profiles that fit the data, extreme porosity lengths - of h∞ ≈ 3 R∗ - are required. Moreover, these porous models do not provide better fits to the data than the non-porous, low optical depth models. Additionally, such huge porosity lengths do not seem realistic in light of 2-D numerical simulations of the wind instability.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{RomeroOwockiAraudoetal.2007, author = {Romero, G. E. and Owocki, S. P. and Araudo, A. T. and Townsend, R. H. D. and Benaglia, P.}, title = {Using gamma-rays to probe the clumped structure of stellar winds}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-18210}, year = {2007}, abstract = {Gamma-rays can be produced by the interaction of a relativistic jet and the matter of the stellar wind in the subclass of massive X-ray binaries known as "microquasars". The relativistic jet is ejected from the surroundings of the compact object and interacts with cold protons from the stellar wind, producing pions that then quickly decay into gamma-rays. Since the resulting gamma-ray emissivity depends on the target density, the detection of rapid variability in microquasars with GLAST and the new generation of Cherenkov imaging arrays could be used to probe the clumped structure of the stellar wind. In particular, we show here that the relative fluctuation in gamma rays may scale with the square root of the ratio of porosity length to binary separation, \$\sqrt{h/a}\$, implying for example a ca. 10\% variation in gamma ray emission for a quite moderate porosity, h/a ∼ 0.01.}, language = {en} }