Laboratory measurements of white dwarf photospheric spectral lines: Hβ

Falcon, Ross Edward; Rochau, Gregory A.; Bailey, James E.; Gomez, Thomas; Montgomery, Michael Houston; Winget, Donald E.; Nagayama, Taisuke

doi:10.1088/0004-637X/806/2/214

Title: Laboratory measurements of white dwarf photospheric spectral lines: Hβ

Journal Article · Thu Jun 18 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · The Astrophysical Journal (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/806/2/214· OSTI ID:1235283

Falcon, Ross Edward ^[1]; Rochau, Gregory A. ^[2]; Bailey, James E. ^[2]; Gomez, Thomas ^[1]; Montgomery, Michael Houston ^[3]; Winget, Donald E. ^[3]; Nagayama, Taisuke ^[2]

Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States); Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)

We spectroscopically measure multiple hydrogen Balmer line profiles from laboratory plasmas to investigate the theoretical line profiles used in white dwarf (WD) atmosphere models. X-ray radiation produced at the Z Pulsed Power Facility at Sandia National Laboratories initiates plasma formation in a hydrogen-filled gas cell, replicating WD photospheric conditions. We also present time-resolved measurements of Hβ and fit this line using different theoretical line profiles to diagnose electron density, n_e, and n = 2 level population, n₂. Aided by synthetic tests, we characterize the validity of our diagnostic method for this experimental platform. During a single experiment, we infer a continuous range of electron densities increasing from n_e ~ 4 to ~30 × 10¹⁶ cm^-3 throughout a 120-ns evolution of our plasma. Also, we observe n₂ to be initially elevated with respect to local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE); it then equilibrates within ~55 ns to become consistent with LTE. This also supports our electron-temperature determination of T_e ~ 1.3 eV (~15,000 K) after this time. At n_e≲ 10¹⁷ cm^-3, we find that computer-simulation-based line-profile calculations provide better fits (lower reduced χ²) than the line profiles currently used in the WD astronomy community. The inferred conditions, however, are in good quantitative agreement. Lastly, this work establishes an experimental foundation for the future investigation of relative shapes and strengths between different hydrogen Balmer lines.

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Research Organization:: Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC04-94AL85000

OSTI ID:: 1235283

Report Number(s):: SAND-2015-2799J; 579911

Journal Information:: The Astrophysical Journal (Online), Vol. 806, Issue 2; ISSN 1538-4357

Publisher:: Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 29 works

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