Fundamental parameters of RR Lyrae stars from multicolour photometry and Kurucz atmospheric models. I. Theory and practical implementation

Abstract: A photometric calibration of Kurucz static model atmospheres is used to obtain the following parameters of RR Lyrae stars: variation of stellar angular radius $\vartheta$, effective temperature $T_{\rm e}$, gravity $g_{\rm e}$ as a function of phase, interstellar reddening $E(B-V)$ towards the star and atmospheric metallicity $M$. Photometric and hydrodynamic conditions are given to find the phases of pulsation when the quasi-static atmosphere approximation (QSAA) can be applied. The QSAA is generalized to a non-uniformly moving spherical atmosphere, and the distance $d$, mass ${\cal M}$ and atmospheric motion are derived from the laws of mass and momentum conservation. To demonstrate the efficiency of the method, the $UBV(RI)C$ photometry of SU Dra was used to derive the following parameters: $[M]=-1.60\pm .10$~dex, $E(B-V)=0.015\pm .010$, $d=663\pm 67$~pc, ${\cal M}=(0.68\pm .03){\cal M}\odot$, equilibrium luminosity $L_{\rm eq}=45.9\pm 9.3L_\odot$ and $T_{\rm eq}=6813\pm 20$~K.