Models for stellar flares

The response of certain spectral signatures of stellar flares, such as Balmer line profiles and the broad-band continuum, to changes in atmospheric structure which might result from physical processes akin to those thought to occur in solar flares, is investigated. While each physical process does not have a unique signature, it can be shown that some of the observed properties of stellar flares can be explained by a model which involves increased pressures and temperatures in the flaring stellar chromosphere. It is suggested that changes in stellar flare area, both with time and with depth in the atmosphere, may play an important role in producing the observed flare spectrum