Physics of Luminous Blue Variables

• Section I: Main Papers, General Discussions, and Two Panel Discussions.- A. General background.- What are LBV’s? — Their characteristics and role in the upper H-R diagram.- On the evolutionary status and instability mechanism of the Luminous Blue Variables.- Evolutionary diagnostics of LBV spectra and systems in the LMC.- The distribution of types of Luminous Blue Variables.- Ages of Luminous Blue Variable candidates from their stellar and nebular environment.- An ultraviolet view of the Luminous Blue Variables.- Photometric variability of Luminous Blue Variables in quiescent state.- Model atmospheres and quantitative spectroscopy of luminous blue stars.- The H-R diagrams of the LMC and SMC.- B. Quiescent vs. eruptive states, and related matters.- ?Normal? LBV eruptions á la S Doradus.- Plinian eruptions á la Eta Carinae.- Changes in the atmospheric structure of LBV’s during eruptions.- The B[e] stars.- Modeling mass loss from B[e] stars.- Luminous Blue Variables need not be blue.- Mass ejections from the G-type hypergiant HR 8752.- Mass loss from Luminous Blue Variables.- C. Circumstellar ejecta and the possibility of bipolar or axial symmetry.- Circumstellar ejecta around LBV?s.- High-resolution coronographic imaging of AG Carinae.- Infrared observations of circumstellar ejecta around Luminous Blue Variables 165.- The formation of shells in the wind from P Cygni.- Close binary models for Luminous Blue Variable stars.- D.Physical mechanisms for eruptions, and connections with other stars.- The role of radiation pressure in LBV atmospheres.- The role of rotation in Luminous Blue Variables.- Atmospheric dynamics of luminous stars.- Theoretical relations between LBV?s and other stars.- Observational connections between LBV?s and other stars, withemphasis on Wolf-Rayet stars.- Panel discussion: The instability mechanism.- Panel discussion: Observational connections and future observations.- Section II: Poster Papers, A Brief List of Catalogs, and Index.- P Cygni: The star that started it all.- The wind of P Cygni.- A source for mass-loss instabilities in LBV’s — the case of P Cygni.- The ionization and thermal balance in P Cygni’s wind revisited.- Variable flux of P Cygni in continuum and spectral lines.- Optical and UV investigation of the envelope of AG Carinae.- AG Carinae: Variability, extinction, distance and luminosity.- The optical micro-variations of the S Dor-type stars AG Car and HR Car.- On the periodicity of Hubble-Sandage objects in M31.- Eta Carinae: UV constraints on possible models. The close binary hypothesis.- High-resolution emission line profiles in blue luminous stars.- Analysis of LBV circumstellar envelopes using Fe II lines.- On the interpretation of emission wings of balmer lines in LBV’s.- Atmospheric models for LBV’s at minimum and maximum states.- Atmospheric parameters and accelerations in the outer parts of luminous hot stars.- NLTE analysis of R84.- Physics of instabilities in radiatively driven stellar winds.- Far-infrared circumstellar debris shells: Clues to the evolution of massive stars?.- High-dispersion spectroscopy of the B[e] supergiant S III.- Slash stars: Two types, two scenarios?.- Blobs in the winds of Wolf-Rayet stars.- LSS4005 and NaSt 1, two Galactic Ofpe/WN or B[e] objects 301.- Brief abstracts of additional poster papers.

'This, then, is the first thorough, wide-ranging discussion of a group of stars which appears to be central to an understanding of evolution in the upper HR diagram. What's more, it's the best presented conference book I have ever seen since 'camera-ready' became compulsory. Highly recommended.' The Observatory 111:1100, February 1991