White dwarf

About: White dwarf is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 15004 publications have been published within this topic receiving 430597 citations. The topic is also known as: degenerate dwarf.

A circumbinary disc in the final stages of common envelope and the core-degenerate scenario for Type Ia supernovae

Abstract: We study the final stages of the common envelope (CE) evolution and find that a substantial fraction of the ejected mass does not reach the escape velocity. To reach this conclusion we use a self-similar solution under simplifying assumptions. Most of the gravitational energy of a companion white dwarf (WD) is released in the envelope of a massive asymptotic giant branch (AGB) or the red giant branch (RGB) star in a very short time. This rapid energy release forms a blast wave in the envelope. We follow the blast wave propagation from the centre of the AGB outwards, and show that ∼1–10 per cent of the ejected envelope remains bound to the remnant binary system. We suggest that due to angular momentum conservation and further interaction with the binary system, the fall-back material forms a circumbinary disc around the post-AGB Core and the companion WD. The interaction of the circumbinary disc with the binary system will reduce the orbital separation much more than expected of the dynamical phase (where the envelope is ejected) of the CE alone. The smaller orbital separation favours a merger at the end of the CE phase or a short time after, while the core is still hot. This is another channel for the formation of a massive WD with super-Chandrasekhar mass that might explode as a Type Ia supernova. We term this the core-degenerate (CD) scenario.

SN 2008ha: An Extremely Low Luminosity and Extremely Low Energy Supernova

Abstract: We present ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared photometry as well as optical spectra of the peculiar supernova (SN) 2008ha. SN 2008ha had a very low peak luminosity, reaching only M_V = -14.2 mag, and low line velocities of only ~2000 km/s near maximum brightness, indicating a very small kinetic energy per unit mass of ejecta. Spectroscopically, SN 2008ha is a member of the SN 2002cx-like class of SNe, a peculiar subclass of SNe Ia; however, SN 2008ha is the most extreme member, being significantly fainter and having lower line velocities than the typical member, which is already ~2 mag fainter and has line velocities ~5000 km/s smaller (near maximum brightness) than a normal SN Ia. SN 2008ha had a remarkably short rise time of only ~10 days, significantly shorter than either SN 2002cx-like objects (~15 days) or normal SNe Ia (~19.5 days). The bolometric light curve of SN 2008ha indicates that SN 2008ha peaked at L_peak = (9.5 +/- 1.4) x 10^40 ergs/s, making SN 2008ha perhaps the least luminous SN ever observed. From its peak luminosity and rise time, we infer that SN 2008ha generated (3.0 +/- 0.9) x 10^-3 M_sun of 56Ni, had a kinetic energy of ~2 x 10^48 ergs, and ejected 0.15 M_sun of material. We classify three new (and one potential) members of the SN 2002cx-like class, expanding the sample to 14 (and one potential) members. The host-galaxy morphology distribution of the class is consistent with that of SNe Ia, Ib, Ic, and II. Several models for generating low-luminosity SNe can explain the observations of SN 2008ha; however, if a single model is to describe all SN 2002cx-like objects, either electron capture in Ne-Mg white dwarfs causing a core collapse, or deflagration of C-O white dwarfs with SN 2008ha being a partial deflagration and not unbinding the progenitor star, are preferred. Abridged.

The Effect of Mass Segregation on Gravitational Wave Sources near Massive Black Holes

Abstract: Gravitational waves (GWs) from the inspiral of compact remnants (CRs) into massive black holes (MBHs) will be observable to cosmological distances. While a CR spirals in, two-body scattering by field stars may cause it to fall into the central MBH before reaching a short-period orbit that would give an observable signal. As a result, only CRs very near (~0.01 pc) the MBH can spiral in successfully. In a multimass stellar population, the heaviest objects sink to the center, where they are more likely to slowly spiral into the MBH without being swallowed prematurely. We study how mass segregation modifies the stellar distribution and the rate of GW events. We find that the inspiral rate per galaxy is 30 Gyr-1 for white dwarfs, 6 Gyr-1 for neutron stars, and 250 Gyr-1 for 10 M? stellar black holes (SBHs). The high rate for SBHs is due to their extremely steep density profile, nBH(r) r-2. The GW detection rate will be dominated by SBHs.

Probing the properties of convective cores through g modes : high-order g modes in SPB and γ Doradus stars

Abstract: In main-sequence stars, the periods of high-order gravity modes are sensitive probes of stellar cores and, in particular, of the chemical composition gradient that develops near the outer edge of the convective core. We present an analytical approximation of high-order g modes that takes into account the effect of the μ gradient near the core. We show that in main-sequence models, similarly to the case of white dwarfs, the periods of high-order gravity modes are accurately described by a uniform period spacing superposed to an oscillatory component. The periodicity and amplitude of such component are related, respectively, to the location and sharpness of the μ gradient. We investigate the properties of high-order gravity modes for stellar models in a mass domain range between 1 and 10 M⊙, and the effects of the stellar mass, evolutionary state and extra-mixing processes on period spacing features. In particular, we show that for models of a typical Slowly Pulsating B (SPB) star, a chemical mixing that could likely be induced by the slow rotation observed in these stars is able to significantly change the g-mode spectra of the equilibrium model. Prospects and challenges for the asteroseismology of γ Doradus and SPB stars are also discussed.