Radiative transitions of the helium atom in highly magnetized neutron star atmospheres

2007/04/30 by Zach Medin, Z. Medin, Dong Lai +3 · 13 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics #Atomic physics #Helium #Helium atom #Ion #Ionization #Neutron star #Photoionization #Physics #Polarization (electrochemistry) #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Quantum mechanics #Radiative equilibrium #Radiative transfer #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.12518.x

published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 383(1), 161-172 (Oxford University Press) · 14 pages, 7 figures. Minor changes. MNRAS in press

openalex publication_date 2007/11/28 · arxiv created 2008/01/18 · arxiv updated 2011/11/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

Recent observations of thermally emitting isolated neutron stars revealed spectral features that could be interpreted as radiative transitions of He in a magnetized neutron star atmosphere. We present Hartree–Fock calculations of the polarization-dependent photoionization cross-sections of the He atom in strong magnetic fields ranging from 1012 to 1014 G. Convenient fitting formulae for the cross-sections are given along with the related oscillator strengths for various bound–bound transitions. The effects of finite nucleus mass on the radiative absorption cross-sections are examined using perturbation theory.

Citations

• Magnetic hydrogen atmosphere models and the neutron star RX J1856.5-3754
• Electromagnetic Polarization in Partially Ionized Plasmas with Strong Magnetic Fields and Neutron Star Atmosphere Models
• The magnificent seven: magnetic fields and surface temperature distributions
• Ground states of H, He,…, Ne, and their singly positive ions in strong magnetic fields: The high-field regime
• Spectrum of neutral helium in strong magnetic fields