The hydrogen ionization front/stellar photosphere interaction in Cepheids and RR Lyraes

Shashi Kanbur
State University of New York, Oswego


We describe Period-Color and Amplitude-Color Relations in Cepheids and RR Lyraes and describe how such relations are consistent with considerations of the interaction of the hydrogen ionization front and stellar photosphere. We show how such an interaction can provide a physical explanation of the observed non-linearity of the Cepheid PL relation including possible impacts on CMB independent estimates of Hubble's constant. We close with a discussion of how multiphase PL/PC/PW relations can provide insight into the observed characteristics of the mean light relations.