Dust dynamics and evolution in H ii regions – II. Effects of dynamical coupling between dust and gas

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, we extend the study initiated in Paper I by modelling grain ensemble evolution in a dynamical model of an expanding H ii region and checking the effects of momentum transfer from dust to gas. The radiation pressure on the dust, the dust drift and the lug on the gas by the dust are all important processes that should be considered simultaneously to describe the dynamics of H ii regions. By accounting for the momentum transfer from the dust to the gas, the expansion time of the H ii region is notably reduced (for our model of RCW 120, the time to reach the observed radius of the H ii region is reduced by a factor of 1.5). Under the common approximation of frozen dust, where there is no relative drift between the dust and gas, the radiation pressure from the ionizing star drives the formation of the very deep gas cavity near the star. Such a cavity is much less pronounced when the dust drift is taken into account. The dust drift leads to the two-peak morphology of the dust density distribution and significantly reduces the dust-to-gas ratio in the ionized region (by a factor of 2 to 10). The dust-to-gas ratio is larger for higher temperatures of the ionizing star since the dust grains have a larger electric charge and are more strongly coupled to the gas.