The Pseudo-continuum Bound-free Opacity of Hydrogen and its Importance in Cool White Dwarf Atmospheres

Simple item page
dc.creatorKowalski, Piotr M.
dc.date2006-07-26
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T10:39:40Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T10:39:40Z
dc.descriptionWe investigate the importance of the pseudo-continuum bound-free opacity from hydrogen atoms in the atmospheres of cool white dwarfs. This source of absorption, when calculated by the occupation probability formalism applied in the modeling of white dwarf atmospheres with $T_{\rm eff}\rm <17000 K$, dominates all other sources of opacity at optical wavelengths. This is unrealistic and not observed. On the other hand, a significant flux suppression in the blue part of the spectra of cool white dwarfs has been reported, and mainly interpreted as a result of the pseudo-continuum absorption from atomic hydrogen. We investigate this problem by proposing a new, more realistic approach to calculating this source of opacity. We show that this absorption is orders of magnitude smaller than that predicted by current methods. Therefore, we rule out the pseudo-continuum opacity as a source of the flux deficiency observed in the spectra of cool white dwarfs.
dc.description11 pages, 5 gigures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0607606
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0607606
dc.identifierAstrophys.J.651:1120-1125,2006
dc.identifierdoi:10.1086/507979
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/181109
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleThe Pseudo-continuum Bound-free Opacity of Hydrogen and its Importance in Cool White Dwarf Atmospheres
dc.typetext

Files

Collections

arXiv