Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T16:30:29.607Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Wootton center for astrophysical plasma properties: First results for helium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 October 2020

M. H. Montgomery
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy and McDonald Observatory University of Texas, Austin, Texas78712, USA emails: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
D. E. Winget
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy and McDonald Observatory University of Texas, Austin, Texas78712, USA emails: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
M.-A. Schaeuble
Affiliation:
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico87123, USA email: [email protected]
B. H. Dunlap
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy and McDonald Observatory University of Texas, Austin, Texas78712, USA emails: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
J. T. Fuchs
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Texas Lutheran University, Seguin, Texas78155, USA email: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The Wootton Center for Astrophysical Plasma Properties (WCAPP) is a new center focusing on the spectroscopic properties of stars and accretion disks using “at-parameter” experiments. Currently, these experiments use the X-ray output of the Z machine at Sandia National Laboratories — the largest X-ray source in the world — to heat plasmas to the same conditions (temperature, density, and radiation environment) as those observed in astronomical objects. The experiments include measuring (1) density-dependent opacities of iron-peak elements at solar interior conditions, (2) spectral lines of low-Z elements at white dwarf photospheric conditions, (3) atomic population kinetics of neon in a radiation-dominated environment, and (4) resonant Auger destruction (RAD) of silicon at conditions found in accretion disks around supermassive black holes. In particular, we report on recent results of our experiments involving helium at white dwarf photospheric conditions. We present results showing disagreement between inferred electron densities using the Hβ line and the He I 5876 Å line, most likely indicating incompleteness in our modeling of this helium line.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
© International Astronomical Union 2020

References

Adams, W. S. 1925, PNAS, 11, 382 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barstow, M. A., Barstow, J. K., Casewell, S. L., Holberg, J. B., & Hubeny, I. 2014, MNRAS, 440, 1607 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barstow, M. A., Bond, H. E., Holberg, J. B., Burleigh, M. R., Hubeny, I., & Koester, D. 2005, MNRAS, 362, 1134 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barstow, M. A., Joyce, S., Casewell, S. L., Holberg, J. B., Bond, H. E., & Burleigh, M. R. 2017, in Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series, Vol. 509, 20th European White Dwarf Workshop, ed. Tremblay, P. E., Gaensicke, B., & Marsh, T., 383Google Scholar
Beauchamp, A. 1995, PhD thesis, Université de Montreal (Canada)Google Scholar
Bergeron, P., Dufour, P., Fontaine, G., Coutu, S., Blouin, S., Genest-Beaulieu, C., Bédard, A., & Rolland, B. 2019, ApJ, 876, 67 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bergeron, P., Wesemael, F., Dufour, P., Beauchamp, A., Hunter, C., Saffer, R. A., Gianninas, A., Ruiz, M. T., Limoges, M.-M., Dufour, P., Fontaine, G., & Liebert, J. 2011, ApJ, 737, 28 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deridder, G., & van Renspergen, W. 1976, A&AS, 23, 147 Google Scholar
Eisenstein, D. J., Liebert, J., Harris, H. C., Kleinman, S. J., Nitta, A., Silvestri, N., Anderson, S. A., Barentine, J. C., Brewington, H. J., Brinkmann, J., Harvanek, M., Krzesiński, J., Neilsen, E. H. Jr., Long, D., Schneider, D. P., & Snedden, S. A. 2006, ApJS, 167, 40 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falcon, R. E., Rochau, G. A., Bailey, J. E., Ellis, J. L., Carlson, A. L., Gomez, T. A., Montgomery, M. H., Winget, D. E., Chen, E. Y., Gomez, M. R., & Nash, T. J. 2013, High Energy Density Physics, 9, 82 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falcon, R. E., Rochau, G. A., Bailey, J. E., Gomez, T. A., Montgomery, M. H., Winget, D. E., & Nagayama, T. 2015, ApJ, 806, 214 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falcon, R. E., Winget, D. E., Montgomery, M. H., & Williams, K. A. 2010, ApJ, 712, 585 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falcon, R. E., Winget, D. E., Montgomery, M. H., & Williams, K. A.. 2012, ApJ, 757, 116 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fontaine, G., & Wesemael, F. 1987, in Proceedings from IAU Colloq. No. 95 (Schenectady, NY: David Press), 319–326Google Scholar
Fuchs, J. T. 2017, PhD thesis, The University of North Carolina at Chapel HillGoogle Scholar
Gaia, Collaboration, Prusti, T., de Bruijne, J. H. J., Brown, A. G. A., Vallenari, A., Babusiaux, C., Bailer-Jones, C. A. L., Bastian, U., Biermann, M., Evans, D. W., & et al. 2016, A&A, 595, A1 Google Scholar
Green, R. F., Schmidt, M., & Liebert, J. 1986, ApJS, 61, 305 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenstein, J. L., & Trimble, V. L. 1967, ApJ, 149, 283 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hügelmeyer, S. D., Dreizler, S., Homeier, D., Krzesiński, J., Werner, K., Nitta, A., & Kleinman, S. J. 2006, A&A, 454, 617 Google Scholar
Koester, D., & Kepler, S. O. 2015, A&A, 583, A86 Google Scholar
Liebert, J., Fontaine, G., & Wesemael, F. 1987, Mem. Soc. Astron. Italiana, 58, 17 Google Scholar
Nather, R. E., Robinson, E. L., & Stover, R. J. 1981, ApJ, 244, 269 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Popper, D. M. 1954, ApJ, 120, 316 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reindl, N., Rauch, T., Werner, K., Kepler, S. O., Gänsicke, B., & Gentile Fusillo, N. P. 2015, in Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series, Vol. 493, 19th European Workshop on White Dwarfs, ed. Dufour, P., Bergeron, P., & Fontaine, G., 21Google Scholar
Rochau, G. A., Bailey, J. E., Falcon, R. E., Loisel, G. P., Nagayama, T., Mancini, R. C., Hall, I., Winget, D. E., Montgomery, M. H., & Liedahl, D. A. 2014, Physics of Plasmas, 21, 056308 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schaeuble, M.-A. 2018, PhD thesis, University of Texas at AustinGoogle Scholar
Werner, K., Dreizler, S., Heber, U., & Rauch, T. 1996, in Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series, Vol. 96, Hydrogen Deficient Stars, ed. Jeffery, C. S. & Heber, U., 267Google Scholar
Werner, K., Heber, U., & Hunger, K. 1991, A&A, 244, 437 Google Scholar