Temperature inhomogeneities in Mrk71 can not be discarded

Abstract

In a very recent work, [1] claim that the scenario of temperature inhomogeneities proposed by [2] ($t2$ > 0) is not able to explain the O${}^{2+}$/H${}^{+}$ abundance discrepancy observed between the calculations based on the optical [OIII] collisional excited lines (CELs) and the OII recombination lines (RLs) in the star forming galaxy Mrk71. In this work, we show that conclusions of [1] depend on several assumptions on the absolute flux calibration, reddening correction and the adopted electron density. In fact, using the data of [1] in a different way and even considering their 1σ uncertainties, it is possible to reach the opposite conclusion, consistent with $t2$ = $0.097_{-0.009}^{+0.008}$. Therefore, the existence of temperature inhomogeneities causing the O${}^{2+}$/H${}^{+}$ abundance discrepancy in Mrk71 can not be ruled out.

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