We improve upon the radiative, hydrostatic equilibrium models of passive
circumstellar disks constructed by Chiang & Goldreich (1997). New features
include (1) account for a range of particle sizes, (2) employment of
laboratory-based optical constants of representative grain materials, and (3)
numerical solution of the equations of radiative and hydrostatic equilibrium
within the original 2-layer (disk surface + disk interior) approximation. We
explore how the spectral energy distribution (SED) of a face-on disk depends on
grain size distributions, disk geometries and surface densities, and stellar
photospheric temperatures. Observed SEDs of 3 Herbig Ae and 2 T Tauri stars,
including spectra from the Long Wavelength Spectrometer (LWS) aboard the
Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), are fitted with our models. Silicate emission
bands from optically thin, superheated disk surface layers appear in nearly all
systems. Water ice emission bands appear in LWS spectra of 2 of the coolest
stars. Infrared excesses in several sources are consistent with vertical
settling of photospheric grains. While this work furnishes further evidence
that passive reprocessing of starlight by flared disks adequately explains the
origin of infrared-to-millimeter wavelength excesses of young stars, we
emphasize how the SED alone does not provide sufficient information to
constrain particle sizes and disk masses uniquely.Comment: Accepted to ApJ, 35 pages inc. 14 figures, AAS preprin
