  There are in the literature several theories to explain the mass loss in
stellar winds. In particular, for late-type stars, some authors have proposed a
wind model driven by an outward-directed flux of damped Alfven waves. The winds
of these stars present great amounts of dust particles that, if charged, can
give rise to new wave modes or modify the pre-existing ones. In this work, we
study how the dust can affect the propagation of Alfven waves in these winds
taking into account a specific damping mechanism, dust-cyclotron damping. This
damping affects the Alfven wave propagation near the dust-cyclotron frequency.
Hence, if we assume a dust size distribution, the damping occurs over a broad
band of wave frequencies. In this work, we present a model of Alfven
wave-driven winds using the dust-cyclotron damping mechanism. On the basis of
coronal holes in the Sun, which present a superradial expansion, our model also
assumes a diverging geometry for the magnetic field. Thus, the mass, momentum,
and energy equations are obtained and then solved in a self-consistent
approach. Our results of wind velocity and temperature profiles for a typical
K5 supergiant star shows compatibility with observations. We also show that,
considering the presence of charged dust particles, the wave flux is less
damped due to the dust-cyclotron damping than it would be if we consider some
other damping mechanisms studied in the literature, such as nonlinear damping,
resonant surface damping, and turbulent damping.
