Plasma Diagnostics in High-Resolution X-ray Spectra of Magnetic Cataclysmic Variables
Abstract
Using the Chandra HETG spectrum of EX Hya as an example, we discuss some of the plasma diagnostics available in high-resolution X-ray spectra of magnetic cataclysmic variables. Specifically, for conditions appropriate to collisional ionization equilibrium plasmas, we discuss the temperature dependence of the H- to He-like line intensity ratios and the density and photoexcitation dependence of the He-like R line ratios and the Fe XVII I(17.10 A)/I(17.05 A) line ratio. We show that the plasma temperature in EX Hya spans the range from ~ 0.5 to ~ 10 keV and that the plasma density n > 2E14 cm^{-3}, orders of magnitude greater than that observed in the Sun or other late-type stars.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0110224,
title = {Plasma Diagnostics in High-Resolution X-ray Spectra of Magnetic Cataclysmic Variables},
author = {Christopher W. Mauche},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0110224},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
9 pages including 6 encapsulated postscript figures; LaTeX format, uses newpasp.sty; to be published in "The Physics of Cataclysmic Variables and Related Objects," ed. B. T. Gansicke, K. Beuermann, and K. Reinsch (San Francisco: ASP)