Surface boundary condition for a power-law-opacity grey atmosphere

ID: surface-boundary-condition-for-a-power-law-opacity-grey-atmosphere

For a plane-parallel atmosphere in radiative equilibrium, constant surface gravity of a star and opacity , match the stellar structure interior where the radiative flux satisfies . The grey atmosphere law then puts the surface at optical depth with . Integrating hydrostatic equilibrium in optical depth from gives . Multiplication by proves the displayed boundary condition for , . At the integral is logarithmic and the continuous limit is . The relation assumes negligible radiation pressure and describes the Eddington closure approximation, rather than exact angular transfer.

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