Published September 10, 2024 | Version v1
Journal article

Motional Stark effect on bound-free spectra

  • 1. Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA; National Solar Observatory, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80303, USA; and Department of Astronomy, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
  • 2. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
  • 3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia
  • 4. Department of Astronomy, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA and Computational Physics Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA

Description

The motion of atoms through a magnetic field (due to a change in reference frame) will result in an additional electric field felt by the electrons in that atom. The motional Stark effect is a well-established effect that has been approximately included in calculations of spectra of magnetized plasmas, usually through diagonalizing the Hamiltonian. The motional Stark effect for continuum states is poorly defined due to an overlap integral that results in a Dirac delta function. This paper presents a workaround by evaluating the motional Stark effect in the Green's function within the scattering formalism. We report on some results pertaining to bound-free spectra for white dwarf and neutron star magnetic field strengths. In most cases, resonances in the continuum are shifted and broadened. This behavior has the effect of raising the Rosseland mean opacity in white dwarfs and neutron star atmospheres.

Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1103/PhysRevA.110.032808;
Crossref Funder ID
10.13039/100006168; 10.13039/100008902; 10.13039/501100000923;

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Physical Review A
Journal Volume
110
Journal Issue
3
Journal Page Range
10 pgs.
ISSN
1094-1622

INIS

Country of Publication
United States
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Subject category
S74: ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS;
Descriptors DEI
ATOMS; BOUND STATE; DIRAC APPROXIMATION; ELECTRIC FIELDS; ELECTRONS; GREEN FUNCTION; HAMILTONIANS; MAGNETIC FIELDS; MEAN-FIELD THEORY; NEUTRON STARS; OPACITY; PLASMA; RESONANCE; SPECTRA; STARK EFFECT; WHITE DWARF STARS

Optional Information

Copyright
©2024 American Physical Society
Contract/Grant/Project number
DE-NA0003960; 89233218NCA000001
Notes
Record automatically processed
Funding organization
National Nuclear Security Administration; Los Alamos National Laboratory; Australian Research Council