Stellar laboratories IV. New Ga IV, Ga V, and Ga VI oscillator strengths and the gallium abundance in the hot white dwarfs G191-B2B and RE0503-289

TL;DR

This study calculated new oscillator strengths for Ga IV-VI ions, enabling accurate spectral line identification and the first determination of gallium abundances in two hot white dwarfs using high-resolution UV spectra.

Contribution

The paper provides newly calculated Ga IV-VI oscillator strengths and applies them to determine gallium abundances in white dwarfs for the first time.

Findings

Detected 20 Ga V lines in RE0503-289's spectrum.

Measured Ga abundance of 3.5 x 10^-5 in RE0503-289.

Measured Ga abundance of 2.0 x 10^-6 in G191-B2B.

Abstract

For the spectral analysis of high-resolution and high-signal-to-noise (S/N) spectra of hot stars, advanced non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) model atmospheres are mandatory. These atmospheres are strongly dependent on the reliability of the atomic data that are used to calculate them. Reliable Ga IV - VI oscillator strengths are used to identify Ga lines in the spectra of the DA-type white dwarf G191-B2B and the DO-type white dwarf RE0503-289 and to determine their photospheric Ga abundances. We newly calculated Ga IV - VI oscillator strengths to consider their radiative and collisional bound-bound transitions in detail in our NLTE stellar-atmosphere models for analyzing of Ga lines exhibited in high-resolution and high-S/N UV observations of G191-B2B and RE0503-289. We unambiguously detected 20 isolated and 6 blended (with lines of other species) Ga V lines in the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) spectrum of RE0503-289. The identification of Ga IV and Ga VI lines is uncertain because they are weak and partly blended by other lines. The determined Ga abundance is 3.5 +/- 0.5 x 10**-5 (mass fraction, about 625 times solar). The Ga IV / GA V ionization equilibrium, which is a very sensitive indicator for the effective temperature, is well reproduced in RE0503-289. We identified the strongest Ga IV lines (1258.801, 1338.129 A) in the HST/STIS (Hubble Space Telescope / Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph) spectrum of G191-B2B and measured a Ga abundance of 2.0 +/- 0.5 x 10**-6 (about 22 times solar). Reliable measurements and calculations of atomic data are a prerequisite for stellar-atmosphere modeling. Observed Ga IV - V line profiles in two white dwarf (G191-B2B and RE0503-289) ultraviolet spectra were well reproduced with our newly calculated oscillator strengths. For the first time, this allowed us to determine the photospheric Ga abundance in white dwarfs.