The Impact of the Pressure Shift of Hydrogen Lines on ``Relativistic'' Masses of White Dwarfs

Emergent profiles of the Balmer lines in white dwarf star spectra have been calculated taking into account the effect of the pressure shift (PS) in plasma. The line profiles given by the calculations are redshifted and are asymmetrical in both flux and residual flux scales. The pressure redshift inferred from the profiles increases with distance from the line center. In a broad central region where 'observational line center' is defined, the pressure redshift becomes a substantial fraction of the gravitational one, especially at moderate surface gravities, log g = 7-8, and the effective temperatures less than 15,000 K of the white dwarf stars. The results probably completely explain the longstanding discrepancy between 'relativistic" and 'astrophysical' masses of white dwarfs.