Stellar angular diameters from infrared photometry. Application to Arcturus and other stars; with effective temperatures

A method for determining stellar angular diameters from absolute infrared photometry is described, and an application made to Arcturus and 27 other stars. The accuracy of the method in the best conditions using present observations is about 5 per cent, although higher accuracy is possible. The diameter deduced for Acturus is 0.0201 +- 0.0010 arcsec, corresponding to an effective temperature of 4410 +- 88 K. For earlier type stars there is good agreement with the results of intensity interferometry. Effective temperatures are calculated for six other stars. (author)