The effect of radiation pressure on planar, self-gravitating H ii regions and its neutral environment

We study the hydrostatic configuration of an isothermal gas layer surrounding a planar distribution of stars, in which the gravitational effects (due to the stars and the self-gravity of the gas) and the radiation pressure due to dust absorption and photoionization of H are important. We consider an infinite planar distribution, and derive a model for the vertical stratification. We obtain the density profiles of a photoionized gas layer, which is covered by a neutral region. We find that the solutions range between cases in which the photoionized layer extends to infinity, to cases in which the vertical extent of the photoionized layer is negligible in comparison with the characteristic height of the enclosing, neutral layer. We find that in cases with a significant dust content, the effect of the radiation pressure together with the self-gravity generates dense, narrow neutral layers in which further star formation might occur.