Laboratory measurements of white dwarf photospheric spectral lines: Hβ
Abstract
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, ne, 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 ne ~ 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 Te ~ 1.3 eV (~15,000 K) after this time. At ne≲ 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.more »
- Authors:
-
- 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)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1235283
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-2015-2799J
Journal ID: ISSN 1538-4357; 579911
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal (Online)
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal (Online); Journal Volume: 806; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 1538-4357
- Publisher:
- Institute of Physics (IOP)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
Citation Formats
Falcon, Ross Edward, Rochau, Gregory A., Bailey, James E., Gomez, Thomas, Montgomery, Michael Houston, Winget, Donald E., and Nagayama, Taisuke. Laboratory measurements of white dwarf photospheric spectral lines: Hβ. United States: N. p., 2015.
Web. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/806/2/214.
Falcon, Ross Edward, Rochau, Gregory A., Bailey, James E., Gomez, Thomas, Montgomery, Michael Houston, Winget, Donald E., & Nagayama, Taisuke. Laboratory measurements of white dwarf photospheric spectral lines: Hβ. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/806/2/214
Falcon, Ross Edward, Rochau, Gregory A., Bailey, James E., Gomez, Thomas, Montgomery, Michael Houston, Winget, Donald E., and Nagayama, Taisuke. Thu .
"Laboratory measurements of white dwarf photospheric spectral lines: Hβ". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/806/2/214. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1235283.
@article{osti_1235283,
title = {Laboratory measurements of white dwarf photospheric spectral lines: Hβ},
author = {Falcon, Ross Edward and Rochau, Gregory A. and Bailey, James E. and Gomez, Thomas and Montgomery, Michael Houston and Winget, Donald E. and Nagayama, Taisuke},
abstractNote = {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, ne, 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 ne ~ 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 Te ~ 1.3 eV (~15,000 K) after this time. At ne≲ 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.},
doi = {10.1088/0004-637X/806/2/214},
journal = {The Astrophysical Journal (Online)},
number = 2,
volume = 806,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Jun 18 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Thu Jun 18 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
Other availability
Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Cited by: 29 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science
Web of Science
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.
Works referenced in this record:
Dynamic hohlraum radiation hydrodynamics
journal, May 2006
- Bailey, J. E.; Chandler, G. A.; Mancini, R. C.
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 13, Issue 5
A higher-than-predicted measurement of iron opacity at solar interior temperatures
journal, December 2014
- Bailey, J. E.; Nagayama, T.; Loisel, G. P.
- Nature, Vol. 517, Issue 7532
Experimental investigation of opacity models for stellar interior, inertial fusion, and high energy density plasmas
journal, May 2009
- Bailey, J. E.; Rochau, G. A.; Mancini, R. C.
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 16, Issue 5
Measurements of the Stark Broadening of Hγ
journal, August 1969
- Bengtson, Roger D.; Miller, Myron H.; Davis, W. D.
- The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 157
Continuum lowering – A new perspective
journal, December 2014
- Crowley, B. J. B.
- High Energy Density Physics, Vol. 13
Statistical mechanics of partially ionized stellar plasma - The Planck-Larkin partition function, polarization shifts, and simulations of optical spectra
journal, August 1987
- Dappen, Werner; Anderson, Lawrence; Mihalas, Dimitri
- The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 319
Investigation of the opacity of hot, dense aluminum in the region of its K edge
journal, March 1988
- Davidson, S. J.; Foster, J. M.; Smith, C. C.
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 52, Issue 10
An experimental platform for creating white dwarf photospheres in the laboratory
journal, March 2013
- Falcon, Ross E.; Rochau, G. A.; Bailey, J. E.
- High Energy Density Physics, Vol. 9, Issue 1
Creating White Dwarf Photospheres in the Laboratory
conference, January 2010
- Falcon, Ross E.; Rochau, G. A.; Bailey, J. E.
- 17TH EUROPEAN WHITE DWARF WORKSHOP, AIP Conference Proceedings
A Gravitational Redshift Determination of the mean mass of White Dwarfs. da Stars
journal, March 2010
- Falcon, Ross E.; Winget, D. E.; Montgomery, M. H.
- The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 712, Issue 1
Hybrid atomic models for spectroscopic plasma diagnostics
journal, May 2007
- Hansen, S. B.; Bauche, J.; Bauche-Arnoult, C.
- High Energy Density Physics, Vol. 3, Issue 1-2
Investigation of the Stark broadening of Balmer beta
journal, October 1981
- Helbig, V.; Nick, K. -P
- Journal of Physics B: Atomic and Molecular Physics, Vol. 14, Issue 19
Stark Broadening of , , and : An Experimental Study
journal, October 1967
- Hill, R. A.; Gerardo, J. B.
- Physical Review, Vol. 162, Issue 1
The equation of state for stellar envelopes. I - an occupation probability formalism for the truncation of internal partition functions
journal, August 1988
- Hummer, D. G.; Mihalas, Dimitri
- The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 331
ASCA Observations of the Supernova Remnant IC 443: Thermal Structure and Detection of Overionized Plasma
journal, June 2002
- T. Kawasaki, Masahiro; Ozaki, Masanobu; Nagase, Fumiaki
- The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 572, Issue 2
Sdss dr7 White Dwarf Catalog
journal, December 2012
- Kleinman, S. J.; Kepler, S. O.; Koester, D.
- The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Vol. 204, Issue 1
Extended VCS Stark broadening tables for hydrogen – Lyman to
Brackett series
journal, April 1997
- Lemke, M.
- Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series, Vol. 122, Issue 2
The Formation Rate and Mass and Luminosity Functions of DA White Dwarfs from the Palomar Green Survey
journal, January 2005
- Liebert, James; Bergeron, P.; Holberg, J. B.
- The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Vol. 156, Issue 1
X-ray photoionized plasmas in space and in the laboratory
journal, June 2011
- Liedahl, Duane A.
- Astrophysics and Space Science, Vol. 336, Issue 1
A Spectroscopic Analysis of White Dwarfs in the kiso Survey
journal, April 2010
- Limoges, M. -M.; Bergeron, P.
- The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 714, Issue 2
Accretion disk dynamics, photoionized plasmas, and stellar opacities
journal, April 2009
- Mancini, R. C.; Bailey, J. E.; Hawley, J. F.
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 16, Issue 4
An Algorithm for Least-Squares Estimation of Nonlinear Parameters
journal, June 1963
- Marquardt, Donald W.
- Journal of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Vol. 11, Issue 2
Pulsed-power-driven high energy density physics and inertial confinement fusion research
journal, May 2005
- Matzen, M. Keith; Sweeney, M. A.; Adams, R. G.
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 12, Issue 5
Investigation of a polychromatic tomography method for the extraction of the three-dimensional spatial structure of implosion core plasmas
journal, August 2012
- Nagayama, T.; Mancini, R. C.; Florido, R.
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 19, Issue 8
High-temperature dynamic hohlraums on the pulsed power driver Z
journal, May 1999
- Nash, T. J.; Derzon, M. S.; Chandler, G. A.
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 6, Issue 5
Balmer series H_β measurements in a laser-induced hydrogen plasma
journal, January 2003
- Parigger, Christian G.; Plemmons, David H.; Oks, Eugene
- Applied Optics, Vol. 42, Issue 30
ZAPP: The Z Astrophysical Plasma Properties collaboration
journal, May 2014
- Rochau, G. A.; Bailey, J. E.; Falcon, R. E.
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 21, Issue 5
Three-dimensional electromagnetic model of the pulsed-power -pinch accelerator
journal, January 2010
- Rose, D. V.; Welch, D. R.; Madrid, E. A.
- Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams, Vol. 13, Issue 1
Dynamics and characteristics of a 215-eV dynamic-hohlraum x-ray source on Z
journal, August 2002
- Sanford, T. W. L.; Lemke, R. W.; Mock, R. C.
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 9, Issue 8
Unified Classical-Path Treatment of Stark Broadening in Plasmas
journal, September 1969
- Smith, Earl W.; Cooper, J.; Vidal, C. R.
- Physical Review, Vol. 185, Issue 1
Tungsten wire-array Z-pinch experiments at 200 TW and 2 MJ
journal, May 1998
- Spielman, R. B.; Deeney, C.; Chandler, G. A.
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 5, Issue 5
Plasma line broadening and computer simulations: A mini-review
journal, January 2010
- Stambulchik, E.; Maron, Y.
- High Energy Density Physics, Vol. 6, Issue 1
Spectroscopic Analysis of da White Dwarfs: Stark Broadening of Hydrogen Lines Including Nonideal Effects
journal, April 2009
- Tremblay, P. -E.; Bergeron, P.
- The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 696, Issue 2
An Improved Spectroscopic Analysis of da White Dwarfs from the Sloan Digital sky Survey data Release 4
journal, March 2011
- Tremblay, P. -E.; Bergeron, P.; Gianninas, A.
- The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 730, Issue 2
Hydrogen Stark broadening calculations with the unified classical path theory
journal, September 1970
- Vidal, C. R.; Cooper, J.; Smith, E. W.
- Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, Vol. 10, Issue 9
Unified theory calculations of stark broadened hydrogen lines including lower state interactions
journal, March 1971
- Vidal, C. R.; Cooper, J.; Smith, E. W.
- Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, Vol. 11, Issue 3
Hydrogen Stark-Broadening Tables
journal, January 1973
- Vidal, C. R.; Cooper, J.; Smith, E. W.
- The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Vol. 25
The bound-free photodetachment cross section of H -
journal, November 1979
- Wishart, A. W.
- Journal of Physics B: Atomic and Molecular Physics, Vol. 12, Issue 21
Works referencing / citing this record:
Matrix Methods for Solving Hartree-Fock Equations in Atomic Structure Calculations and Line Broadening
journal, April 2018
- Gomez, Thomas; Nagayama, Taisuke; Fontes, Chris
- Atoms, Vol. 6, Issue 2
Laboratory Hydrogen-Beta Emission Spectroscopy for Analysis of Astrophysical White Dwarf Spectra
journal, July 2018
- Parigger, Christian; Drake, Kyle; Helstern, Christopher
- Atoms, Vol. 6, Issue 3
Plasma Expansion Dynamics in Hydrogen Gas
journal, August 2018
- Gautam, Ghaneshwar; Parigger, Christian
- Atoms, Vol. 6, Issue 3
Laser-Plasma and Self-Absorption Measurements with Applications to Analysis of Atomic and Molecular Stellar Astrophysics Spectra
journal, July 2019
- Parigger, Christian G.; Helstern, Christopher M.; Gautam, Ghaneshwar
- Atoms, Vol. 7, Issue 3
H β and H γ Absorption-line Profile Inconsistencies in Laboratory Experiments Performed at White Dwarf Photosphere Conditions
journal, November 2019
- Schaeuble, M. -A.; Nagayama, T.; Bailey, J. E.
- The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 885, Issue 1
Laboratory Hydrogen-Beta Emission Spectroscopy for Analysis of Astrophysical White Dwarf Spectra
posted_content, May 2018
- Parigger, Christian G. .; Drake, Kyle A.; Helstern, Christopher M.