Radiation-driven winds of hot luminous stars. Improvements of the theory and first results.

The dynamics of radiation-driven winds in hot-luminous-star atmospheres is investigated theoretically on the basis of model computations. The model of Castor et al. (1975) is modified by dropping the radial-streaming approximation for the driving photons and applying the force multipliers of Abbot (1982), and the validity of the model formulation is tested comparing its predictions with those obtained by solving the hydrodynamics and the correct radiative transfer in the comoving frame simultaneously for a sample of weak, intermediate, and strong lines at different continuum wavelengths. Numerical results, including estimates of mass-loss rate and terminal velocity for a sample of OB stars, are presented in tables and graphs and evaluated in detail.