Observing and modelling magnetic fields in white dwarfs

TL;DR

This paper reports on a spectroscopic survey of high proper motion stars, revealing magnetic white dwarfs and analyzing how magnetic field strength and geometry affect their optical spectra.

Contribution

It introduces new observations of magnetic white dwarfs and models their magnetic field configurations based on spectral line analysis.

Findings

Detected a variety of magnetic field strengths and geometries in white dwarfs.

Modeled spectral lines to infer magnetic field configurations.

Identified the impact of magnetic fields on optical spectra of white dwarfs.

Abstract

Our ongoing spectroscopic survey of high proper motion stars is a rich source of new magnetic white dwarfs. We present a few examples among cool white dwarfs showing the effect of field strength and geometry on the observed optical spectrum. Modelling of hydrogen and heavy element spectral lines reveals a range of uniform or markedly offset dipole fields in these objects.