Pressure shifts and abundance gradients in the atmosphere of the DAZ white dwarf GALEX J193156.8+011745

TL;DR

This study analyzes the atmosphere of the polluted white dwarf GALEX J1931+0117, revealing pressure effects on spectral lines, revised elemental abundances, and evidence of accretion from a debris disc.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed pressure shift analysis of silicon lines and revised elemental abundances, improving understanding of accretion processes in polluted white dwarfs.

Findings

Detected large Stark shifts in silicon lines consistent with theory

Revised magnesium abundance is half of previous estimates

Accretion rates vary from 2x10^6 to 2x10^9 g/s, oxygen-rich and calcium-deficient

Abstract

We present a detailed model atmosphere analysis of high-dispersion and high signal-to-noise ratio spectra of the heavily polluted DAZ white dwarf GALEX J1931+0117. The spectra obtained with the VLT-Kueyen/UV-Visual Echelle Spectrograph show several well-resolved Si II spectral lines enabling a study of pressure effects on line profiles. We observed large Stark shifts in silicon lines in agreement with theoretical predictions and laboratory measurements. Taking into account Stark shifts in the calculation of synthetic spectra we reduced the scatter in individual line radial velocity measurements from ~ 3 to < 1 km/s. We present revised abundances of O, Mg, Si, Ca, and Fe based on a critical review of line broadening parameters and oscillator strengths. The new measurements are generally in agreement with our previous analysis with the exception of magnesium with a revised abundance a factor of two lower than previously estimated. The magnesium, silicon and iron abundances exceed solar abundances, but the oxygen and calcium abundances are below solar. Also, we compared the observed line profiles to synthetic spectra computed with variable accretion rates and vertical abundance distributions assuming diffusive steady-state. The inferred accretion rates vary from dM/dt = 2x10^6 for calcium to 2x10^9 g/s for oxygen. We find that the accretion flow must be oxygen-rich while being deficient in calcium relative to solar abundances. The lack of radial velocity variations between two measurement epochs suggests that GALEX J1931+0117 is probably not in a close binary and that the source of the accreted material resides in a debris disc.