Broadening of spectral lines in the Gaia-ESO survey

Abstract: Analyzing stellar spectra plays a big role in understanding the evolution of our galaxy. Having good data for spectral line properties is very important when analyzing these spectra. One part of the Gaia-ESO public spectroscopic survey (GES) is to gather data for spectral line properties from stellar spectra. The scope of this project is to study one of these properties, the spectral line width caused by collisional broadening by hydrogen. Collisional broadening by hydrogen occurs when a hydrogen atom collides with a particle. The goal of this project is to successfully calculate the collisional spectral line broadening of iron lines where new data is missing from the GES using modern quantum mechanical calculations. These calculations are done using the ABO theory, which is more advanced than previously established theory.A table of Fe-I (Neutral iron) spectral lines without collisional broadening data in the GES has been provided. Using the ABO theory and the accompanying ABO cross section calculator code, estimates of collisional broadening by hydrogen have been calculated for these lines. The new calculations predict that the line width of the spectral lines are typically twice as large compared to older estimates calculated using simpler theory. This new data can be expected to improve stellar spectrum analysis in the Gaia-ESO survey spectra.