Granulation in K-type Dwarf Stars. II. Hydrodynamic simulations and 3D spectrum synthesis

TL;DR

This paper presents 3D hydrodynamic simulations of K-type dwarf stars' atmospheres, accurately modeling spectral line asymmetries and shifts, and validates the model against observations for stellar abundance analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed 3D radiative-hydrodynamic model for K-type dwarfs that reproduces spectral line asymmetries and shifts, improving stellar atmosphere understanding.

Findings

Model predicts asymmetric line profiles with characteristic bisectors.

Line core wavelength shifts vary with line strength, matching observations.

Model validated for photospheric abundance studies despite some limitations.

Abstract

We construct a 3D radiative-hydrodynamic model atmosphere of parameters Teff = 4820 K, log g = 4.5, and solar chemical composition. The theoretical line profiles computed with this model are asymmetric, with their bisectors having a characteristic C-shape and their core wavelengths shifted with respect to their laboratory values. The line bisectors span from about 10 to 250 m/s, depending on line strength, with the stronger features showing larger span. The corresponding core wavelength shifts range from about -200 m/s for the weak Fe I lines to almost +100 m/s in the strong Fe I features. Based on observational results for the Sun, we argue that there should be no core wavelength shift for Fe I lines of EW > 100 mA. The cores of the strongest lines show contributions from the uncertain top layers of the model, where non-LTE effects and the presence of the chromosphere, which are important in real stars, are not accounted for. The comparison of model predictions to observed Fe I line bisectors and core wavelength shifts for a reference star, HIP86400, shows excellent agreement, with the exception of the core wavelength shifts of the strongest features, for which we suspect inaccurate theoretical values. Since this limitation does not affect the predicted line equivalent widths significantly, we consider our 3D model validated for photospheric abundance work.