Multiline Zeeman Signatures Through Line Addition

TL;DR

This paper clarifies the interpretation of line addition techniques in spectropolarimetry, demonstrating their effectiveness in detecting Zeeman signatures and magnetic fields in stars beyond the weak-field approximation.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical interpretation of line addition, compares it with least-squares deconvolution, and confirms their similar effectiveness in detecting stellar magnetic fields.

Findings

Zeeman signatures are reliably detected using line addition.

Solar methods are effective for stellar spectropolarimetry.

Line addition and least-squares deconvolution yield similar results.

Abstract

In order to get a significant Zeeman signature in the polarised spectra of a magnetic star, we usually 'add' the contributions of numerous spectral lines; the ultimate goal is to recover the spectropolarimetric prints of the magnetic field in these line additions. Here we want to clarify the meaning of these techniques of line addition; in particular, we try to interpret the meaning of the 'pseudo-line' formed during this process and to find out why and how its Zeeman signature is still meaningful. We create a synthetic case of line addition and apply well tested standard solar methods routinely used in the research on magnetism in our nearest star. The results are convincing and the Zeeman signatures well detected; Solar methods are found to be quite efficient also for stellar observations. We statistically compare line addition with least-squares deconvolution and demonstrate that they both give very similar results as a consequence of the special statistical properties of the weights. The Zeeman signatures are unequivocally detected in this multiline approach. We may anticipate the outcome that magnetic field detection is reliable well beyond the weak-field approximation. Linear polarisation in the spectra of solar type stars can be detected when the spectral resolution is sufficiently high.