Hydrogen Line Shape Uncertainties in White Dwarf Model Atmospheres (original) (raw)
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White dwarfs (WDs) are useful across a wide range of astrophysical contexts. The appropriate interpretation of their spectra relies on the accuracy of WD atmosphere models. One essential ingredient of atmosphere models is the theory used for the broadening of spectral lines. To date, the models have relied on Vidal et al., known as the unified theory of line broadening (VCS). There have since been advancements in the theory; however, the calculations used in model atmosphere codes have only received minor updates. Meanwhile, advances in instrumentation and data have uncovered indications of inaccuracies: spectroscopic temperatures are roughly 10% higher and spectroscopic masses are roughly 0.1 M ⊙ higher than their photometric counterparts. The evidence suggests that VCS-based treatments of line profiles may be at least partly responsible. Gomez et al. developed a simulation-based line-profile code Xenomorph using an improved theoretical treatment that can be used to inform question...
arXiv: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics, 2016
As part of our laboratory investigation of the theoretical line profiles used in white dwarf atmosphere models, we extend the electron-density ($n_{\rm e}$) range measured by our experiments to higher densities (up to nesim80times1016n_{e}\sim80\times10^{16}nesim80times1016 cm$^{-3}$). Whereas inferred parameters using the hydrogen-$\beta$ spectral line agree among different line-shape models for nrmelesssim30times1016n_{\rm e}\lesssim30\times10^{16}nrmelesssim30times1016 cm$^{-3}$, we now see divergence between models. These are densities beyond the range previously benchmarked in the laboratory, meaning theoretical profiles in this regime have not been fully validated. Experimentally exploring these higher densities enables us to test and constrain different line-profile models, as the differences in their relative H-Balmer line shapes are more pronounced at such conditions. These experiments also aid in our study of occupation probabilities because we can measure these from relative line strengths.
Which Hydrogen Balmer Lines Are Most Reliable for Determining White Dwarf Atmospheric Parameters?
Our preliminary results from laboratory experiments studying white dwarf (WD) photospheres show a systematic difference between experimental plasma conditions inferred from measured H$\beta$ absorption line profiles versus those from H$\gamma$. One hypothesis for this discrepancy is an inaccuracy in the relative theoretical line profiles of these two transitions. This is intriguing because atmospheric parameters inferred from H Balmer lines in observed WD spectra show systematic trends such that inferred surface gravities decrease with increasing principal quantum number, nnn. If conditions inferred from lower-$n$ Balmer lines are indeed more accurate, this suggests that spectroscopically determined DA WD masses may be greater than previously thought and in better agreement with the mean mass determined from gravitational redshifts.
White dwarf stars are traditionally found to have surface com- positions made primarily of hydrogen or helium. However, a new family has recently been uncovered, the so-called hot DQ white dwarfs, which have surface compositions dominated by carbon and oxygen with little or no trace of hydrogen and helium (Dufour et al. 2007, 2008, 2010). Deriving precise atmospheric parameters for these objects (such as the effective temperature and the surface gravity) requires detailed modeling of spectral line profiles. Stark broadening parameters are of crucial importance in that context. We present preliminary results from our new generation of model atmospheres including the latest Stark broadening calculations for C II lines and discuss the implications as well as future work that remains to be done
Stark Broadening Parameters For White Dwarf Atmospheres Research
2010
Stark broadening parameters of C II lines were determined within 3d-nf series using semiclassical perturbation method. The atomic energy levels needed for calculations were taken from TOPBASE as well as the oscillator strengths, which were additionally calculated using the method of Bates and Damgaard. The both results were compared and only insignificant differences were found. Calculations were performed for plasma conditions relevant for atmospheres of DQ white dwarfs and for a new type of white dwarfs, with surface composed mostly of carbon, discovered in 2007 by Dufour et al. The aim of this work is to provide accurate C II Stark broadening data, which are crucial for this type of white dwarf atmosphere modellisation. Obtained results will be included in STARK-B database (http://stark-b.obspm.fr/), entering in the FP7 project of European Virtual Atomic and Molecular Data Center VAMDC aiming at building an interoperable e- Infrastructure for the exchange of atomic and molecular ...