AAS 196th Meeting, June 2000
Session 57. Supernovae Here and There, Dust Destruction and Star Formation Topics
Oral, Thursday, June 8, 2000, 10:00-11:30am, Highland B/J

## [57.02] An Analytic Inversion of Emission Lines of Arbitrary Optical Depth for the Structure of Supernova Ejecta

R. Ignace (University of Iowa), M.A. Hendry (University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK)

We have derived a method for inverting emission line profiles formed in supernova ejecta. The derivation assumes spherical symmetry and homologous expansion (i.e., v(r) \propto r). The inversion is analytic and even takes account of occultation by a pseudo-photosphere. Previous inversion methods have been developed which are restricted to optically thin lines, but the particular case of homologous expansion permits an analytic inversion for lines of arbitrary optical depth. In fact, we show that the quantity that is generically retrieved is the run of line intensity I\lambda with radius in the ejecta shell. This result could be applied to resonance lines, recombination lines, or lines dominated by collisional de-excitation.