Creating White Dwarf Photospheres in the Laboratory: Strategy for Astrophysics Applications

TL;DR

This paper discusses laboratory experiments designed to replicate white dwarf photospheres, aiming to test and improve the accuracy of astrophysical models of white dwarf atmospheres.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental platform for creating white dwarf-like plasmas in the lab, enabling direct testing of line broadening theories used in astrophysics.

Findings

Successful creation of hydrogen plasmas with conditions similar to white dwarf atmospheres

Measurement of Balmer line profiles in emission and absorption

Potential to expand experiments to other compositions like helium and carbon/oxygen

Abstract

Astrophysics experiments by Falcon et al. to create white dwarf photospheres in the laboratory are currently underway. The experimental platform measures Balmer line profiles of a radiation-driven, pure hydrogen plasma in emission and in absorption for conditions at T_e ~ 1 eV, n_e ~ 10^17 cm^-3. These will be used to compare and test line broadening theories used in white dwarf atmosphere models. The flexibility of the platform allows us to expand the direction of our experiments using other compositions. We discuss future prospects such as exploring helium plasmas and carbon/oxygen plasmas relevant to the photospheres of DBs and hot DQs, respectively.