Line Broadening Diagnostics for Neutron Stars

Spectral line shapes are a common tool for diagnostics in both laboratory and astrophysical settings such as white dwarf atmospheres. We extend these line broadening models to neutron star atmospheres. Significant modification of the line broadening model is required due to the extreme magnetic fields present in their atmosphere. The new line shape models show that line broadening tends to increase as magnetic fields increase.

We report on the current status of line broadening models for highly magnetized plasmas. Current results suggest that neutron star line shapes will be sensitive to density. This implies that should a sufficiently accurate spectrum be measured, a gravity can be determined allowing us to put constraints on the neutron star equation of state.

We acknowledge support from the Wootton Center for Astrophysical Plasma Properties under the United States Department of Energy cooperative agreement number DE-NA0003843.