# Bow shocks, bow waves, and dust waves. I. Strong coupling limit

## TL;DR

This paper explores the formation of dust and bow waves around stars, highlighting how radiation pressure and gas-dust coupling influence whether bow shocks or bow waves dominate in different stellar environments.

## Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analysis of dust and bow wave formation under strong coupling conditions, expanding understanding beyond traditional hydrodynamic bow shock models.

## Key findings

- Gas and dust are perfectly coupled in many stellar conditions.
- Radiation-supported bow waves can form at higher densities around certain stars.
- Weak stellar winds increase the prevalence of radiation-supported bows.

## Abstract

Dust waves and bow waves result from the action of a star's radiation pressure on a stream of dusty plasma that flows past it. They are an alternative mechanism to hydrodynamic bow shocks for explaining the curved arcs of infrared emission seen around some stars. When gas and grains are perfectly coupled, for a broad class of stellar parameters, wind-supported bow shocks predominate when the ambient density is below 100 per cubic cm. At higher densities radiation-supported bows can form, tending to be optically thin bow waves around B stars, or optically thick bow shocks around early O stars. For OB stars with particularly weak stellar winds, radiation-supported bows become more prevalent.