A popular model for the circumstellar disks of Be stars is that of a
geometrically thin disk with a density in the equatorial plane that drops as a
power law of distance from the star. It is usually assumed that the vertical
structure of such a disk (in the direction parallel to the stellar rotation
axis) is governed by the hydrostatic equilibrium set by the vertical component
of the star's gravitational acceleration. Previous radiative equilibrium models
for such disks have usually been computed assuming a fixed density structure.
This introduces an inconsistency as the gas density is not allowed to respond
to temperature changes and the resultant disk model is not in vertical,
hydrostatic equilibrium. In this work, we modify the {\sc bedisk} code of
\citet{sig07} so that it enforces a hydrostatic equilibrium consistent with the
temperature solution. We compare the disk densities, temperatures, Hα
line profiles, and near-IR excesses predicted by such models with those
computed from models with a fixed density structure. We find that the fixed
models can differ substantially from the consistent hydrostatic models when the
disk density is high enough that the circumstellar disk develops a cool
(T≲10,000K) equatorial region close to the parent star. Based on
these new hydrostatic disks, we also predict an approximate relation between
the (global) density-averaged disk temperature and the Teff​ of the
central star, covering the full range of central Be star spectral types.Comment: 25 pages; 11 figure