2003ApJ...590..368L

We model the spectral energy distribution (SED) from the mid-infrared to submillimeter of the ringlike disk of HR 4796A, the dustiest A-type star. We consider dust made of either coagulated but otherwise unaltered protostellar interstellar grains or grains that are highly processed in a protostellar/protoplanetary nebula with silicate dust annealed and carbon dust oxidized. Both types of dust are successful in reproducing the observed SED, provided that the grains are highly fluffy, with a vacuum volume fraction of ∼90%. We find no evidence for the existence of a hot ``zodiacal dust'' component a few astronomical units from the star, which was suggested by previous workers to account for the 10 µm wavelength emission.