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