2004/03/31 by Patrick S. Wojdowski, Norbert S. Schulz
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Atomic and Molecular Physics #X-ray Spectroscopy and Fluorescence Analysis #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/424904
published as 2004 ApJ 616, 630 · This paper was split in two. This version is part I. Part II may be found at astro-ph/0503430
openalex publication_date 2004/11/19 · arxiv created 2005/03/20 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
We describe a technique to derive constraints on the differential emission measure (DEM) distribution, a measure of the temperature distribution, of collisionally ionized hot plasmas from their X-ray emission-line spectra. This technique involves fitting spectra using a number of components, each of which is the entire X-ray emission-line spectrum for a single ion. It is applicable to high-resolution X-ray spectra of any collisionally ionized plasma, and it is particularly useful for spectra in which the emission lines are broadened and blended, such as those of the winds of hot stars. This method does not require that any explicit assumptions about the form of the DEM distribution be made and is easily automated.