scholarly journals The Phase Diagram of High Density Binary Mixtures and the Luminosity Function of Single White Dwarfs

1989 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 278-281
Author(s):  
J. Isern ◽  
E. Garcia-Berro ◽  
M. Hernanz ◽  
R. Mochkovitch
Keyword(s):  
White Dwarf ◽  
White Dwarfs ◽  
Luminosity Function ◽  
Solid Phase ◽  
Galactic Disk ◽  
Coulomb Interactions ◽  
Physical Conditions ◽  
Luminosity Functions ◽  
Nuclear Burning ◽  
First Order Transition

For the last two decades, plasma physics developments have led to a better understanding of physical conditions in white dwarfs interiors. Following the pioneering work of Mestel (1952), the problem of white dwarf cooling has been a subject of continuous interest until the present time. In the early sixties, Kirzhnits (1960), Abrikosov (1960), and Salpeter (1961) recognised the importance of Coulomb interactions in the dense plasma which forms the white dwarf interior. A first-order transition from liquid to solid phase was predicted and the resultant release of latent heat was shown to somewhat affect the cooling rate (Mestel and Ruderman, 1967). Subsequently, improved theoretical luminosity functions (number of white dwarfs per pc9 and per magnitude interval as a function of luminosity) taking into account not only Coulomb interactions but also neutrino losses, and using detailed atmosphere models (Van Horn, 1968; Koester, 1972; Lamb and Van Horn, 1975; Shaviv and Kovets, 1976; Sweeney, 1976). Recently, Iben and Tutukov (1984) have discussed the evolution of a 0.6 M⊙ carbon-oxygen white dwarf from its nuclear burning stages to complete crystallization. Their luminosity function agrees reasonably well with observations in the range −4 ≤ log(L/L⊙) ≤ 4 but it predicts an excess of white dwarfs at low luminosities. Indeed, the luminosity function derived from observations grows monotonically until log(L/L⊙) ≃ −4.5 (Mv ≤ 16) and then makes an abrupt shortfall (Liebert, Dahn and Monet, 1988). The agreement between theory and observations is so good in the aforementioned range luminosity that we can wonder as to whether it is possible not only to test the theory of white dwarf cooling but also to obtain information on the galactic structure and evolution. One example of that is the use of the cutoff in the white distribution to determine the age of the galactic disk (Schmidt, 1959). Using this method, Winget et al. (1987) have found that the galactic disk age could be of the order of 9 Gyr old, in agreement with some predictions from nucleocosmochronology (Fowler et al. 1987).

scholarly journals Extending the White Dwarf Sequence: Plans and Prospects

1978 ◽  
Vol 80 ◽  
pp. 437-440
Author(s):  
James Liebert
Keyword(s):  
White Dwarf ◽  
White Dwarfs ◽  
Luminosity Function ◽  
Selection Effects ◽  
Number Density ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
Luminosity Functions ◽  
Current Sample ◽  
The Many

The recent discovery that the parallax star LP701-29 is a white dwarf has firmly extended the degenerate sequence below MV= +16m(Dahnet al. 1978). As the search for white dwarfs extends to cooler and fainter stars, however, it becomes particularly important to develop a plan for selecting candidates among the many thousands of red proper motion stars. We begin by assessing the completeness of the known sample within 10 parsecs in the northern two thirds of the sky. Some color-dependent selection effects must be evaluated, however, since these may preferentially inhibit the discovery of cooler stars. A correction factor for the missing low velocity white dwarfs is estimated. Then, Green's(1977) recent determination of the number density of blue degenerates is used to normalize various theoretical luminosity functions, the benchmarks against which the current sample out to 10 pc can be compared. It is concluded that the sample may be approaching completeness in the northern sky for white dwarfs with tangential velocities (vT) ≥ 40 km/sec (μ ≥ 1″.0/yr.) and Mbol< +15m. The implied luminosity function is thus consistent with that found by Sion and Liebert (1977). Below Mbol= +15mthe different theoretical functions predict substantially different numbers.

scholarly journals The White Dwarf Luminosity Function and the Phase Diagram of the Carbon-Oxygen Dense Plasma

1988 ◽  
Vol 108 ◽  
pp. 88-89
Author(s):  
E. Garcìa-Berro ◽  
M. Hernanz ◽  
R. Mochkovitch ◽  
J. Isern
Keyword(s):  
Phase Diagram ◽  
Cooling Rate ◽  
White Dwarf ◽  
White Dwarfs ◽  
Luminosity Function ◽  
Dense Plasma ◽  
Solid Phase ◽  
Complete Separation ◽  
Gravitational Energy ◽  
Complete Miscibility

AbstractWe show that the theoretical white dwarf luminosity function depends very much on the assumed phase diagram for the carbon-oxygen dense plasma. Since it is still very uncertain, we compare the two possible extreme cases of complete miscibility and complete separation of carbon and oxygen in solid phase. In the latter case we find that the paucity of low luminosity — log(L/L⊙) ≤ −4.5 — white dwarfs can be explained by the formation of an oxygen core, which releases a large amount of gravitational energy and slows down the cooling rate.

scholarly journals Identification of Cool White Dwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

2000 ◽  
Vol 176 ◽  
pp. 514-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. S. Metcalfe ◽  
A. Mukadam ◽  
D. E. Winget ◽  
X. Fan ◽  
M. A. Strauss ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
White Dwarf ◽  
White Dwarfs ◽  
Luminosity Function ◽  
Galactic Disk ◽  
Sloan Digital Sky Survey ◽  
Dwarf Stars ◽  
White Dwarf Stars ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cool White Dwarfs

AbstractWe are searching for the coolest white dwarf stars in the galactic disk and halo. The Sloan survey, in due course, will identify an enormous number of new white dwarf stars which will better define the white dwarf luminosity function—an important tool for understanding the age and history of the stellar population of the galaxy. The broadband filter data obtained in the digital photometry phase of the survey will not permit identification of the most interesting of these, the coolest white dwarf stars. This is because the cool main sequence and subdwarf stars become indistinguishable from the white dwarfs in the various colorcolor diagrams. We have interference filters designed to separate out these classes of objects. We have obtained photometry of test fields to complement the Sloan data and identify the population of cool white dwarf stars. These data will ultimately resolve the controversies, based for the most part on small-number statistics, of the location of the turndown in the white dwarf luminosity function for the disk. If the halo is significantly older than the disk, we will find a second peak in the white dwarf luminosity function, at lower luminosities than the disk turndown. Our data will provide the first meaningful constraints on the location of the turndown in the halo white dwarf luminosity function.

scholarly journals Direct detection of atomic dark matter in white dwarfs

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Curtin ◽  
Jack Setford
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Energy Loss ◽  
Cooling Rate ◽  
White Dwarf ◽  
White Dwarfs ◽  
Luminosity Function ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
Matter Density ◽  
Mixing Parameter ◽  
First Time

Abstract Dark matter could have a dissipative asymmetric subcomponent in the form of atomic dark matter (aDM). This arises in many scenarios of dark complexity, and is a prediction of neutral naturalness, such as the Mirror Twin Higgs model. We show for the first time how White Dwarf cooling provides strong bounds on aDM. In the presence of a small kinetic mixing between the dark and SM photon, stars are expected to accumulate atomic dark matter in their cores, which then radiates away energy in the form of dark photons. In the case of white dwarfs, this energy loss can have a detectable impact on their cooling rate. We use measurements of the white dwarf luminosity function to tightly constrain the kinetic mixing parameter between the dark and visible photons, for DM masses in the range 10−5–105 GeV, down to values of ϵ ∼ 10−12. Using this method we can constrain scenarios in which aDM constitutes fractions as small as 10−3 of the total dark matter density. Our methods are highly complementary to other methods of probing aDM, especially in scenarios where the aDM is arranged in a dark disk, which can make direct detection extremely difficult but actually slightly enhances our cooling constraints.

scholarly journals The Temperature and Cooling Age of t h e White-Dwarf Companion to the Millisecond Pulsar PSR B1855+09

2000 ◽  
Vol 177 ◽  
pp. 633-634
Author(s):  
Jon Bell ◽  
Marten van Kerkwijk ◽  
Vicky Kaspi ◽  
Shri Kulkarni
Keyword(s):  
White Dwarf ◽  
White Dwarfs ◽  
Measured Temperature ◽  
Millisecond Pulsar ◽  
Nuclear Burning ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Cooling Model ◽  
Age Discrepancy

AbstractWe report on Keck and HST observations of the binary millisecond pulsar PSR B1855+09. We detect its white-dwarf companion and measuremF555W= 25.90 ± 0.12 andmF814W= 24.19 ± 0.11 (Vega system). From the reddening-corrected color we infer a temperatureTeff= 4800 ± 800 K. The companion mass is known accurately from measurements of the Shapiro delay of the pulsar signal,. Given a cooling model, one can use the measured temperature to determine the cooling age. The main uncertainty in the cooling models for such low-mass white dwarfs is the amount of residual nuclear burning, which depends on the thickness of the hydrogen layer surrounding the helium core. For PSR B1855+09, such models lead to a cooling age of ∼10Gyr, which is twice the spin-down age of the pulsar. It may be that the pulsar does not brake (n=3.0) like a dipole rotatingin vacuo. For other pulsar companions, however, ages well over lOGyr are inferred, indicating that the problem may lie with the cooling models. There is no age discrepancy for models in which the white dwarfs are formed with thinner hydrogen layers (< 3 × 10−4M⊙). See van Kerkwijk et al. ApJ (submitted) for more details.

scholarly journals White Dwarf Crystallization

1994 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
pp. 161-185
Author(s):  
Enrique Garcia-Berro ◽  
Margarida Hernanz
Keyword(s):  
White Dwarf ◽  
Luminosity Function ◽  
Crystallization Process ◽  
Galactic Disk ◽  
Chemical Species ◽  
Galactic Chemical Evolution ◽  
Crucial Importance ◽  
Solidification Processes ◽  
Detailed Computation

AbstractThe inclusion of a detailed treatment of solidification processes in the cooling theory of carbon–oxygen white dwarfs is of crucial importance for the determination of their luminosity function. Carbon–oxygen separation at crystallization yields delays larger than 2 Gyr to cool down to luminosities corresponding to the observed cut–off. This leads to estimates of the age of the galactic disk 1.5 to 2 Gyr older than the ones obtained in previous studies (about 9 Gyr). Furthermore, the presence of minor chemical species, in particular 22Ne, alters significantly the crystallization process, and produces extra delays of 2 to 3 gigayears. However, the detailed computation of the theoretical white dwarf luminosity function, taking into account a reasonable model of galactic chemical evolution, and including the effect of these species, shows that the location of the cut–off, and then the estimated age of the disk, is not modified significantly.

scholarly journals Search For Cool White Dwarf Pulsators

2000 ◽  
Vol 176 ◽  
pp. 525-526
Author(s):  
Atsuko Nitta ◽  
A. Mukadam ◽  
D. E. Winget ◽  
A. Kanaan ◽  
S. J. Kleinman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lower Limit ◽  
White Dwarf ◽  
White Dwarfs ◽  
Galactic Disk ◽  
Chemical Compositions ◽  
Physical Processes ◽  
Effective Temperatures

AbstractWe are searching for pulsations in cool (< 6000 K) white dwarfs (WDs), hoping to apply asteroseismological techniques to improve our understanding of their structure and the physical processes inside them. This information is important as we use cool WDs to estimate the lower limit of the age of the Galactic disk. Within a spectroscopic and photometric survey of 110 cool WDs by Bergeron, Ruiz, & Legget, we find 28 candidates with appropriate effective temperatures, masses, and chemical compositions for possible pulsations in nonradial g modes with periods similar to those we observe in DAVs. So far, we have observed 4 candidates, but have found no evidence of large variation.

scholarly journals An Example Demonstrating the Potential for Asteroseismology of DB White Dwarf Stars

1993 ◽  
Vol 139 ◽  
pp. 116-116
Author(s):  
P.A. Bradley ◽  
M.A. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Internal Structure ◽  
Stellar Evolution ◽  
White Dwarf ◽  
White Dwarfs ◽  
Galactic Disk ◽  
Helium Surface ◽  
Dwarf Stars ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
White Dwarf Stars ◽  
History Of

AbstractWe present the results of a parametric survey of evolutionary models of compositionally stratified white dwarfs with helium surface layers (DB white dwarfs). Because white dwarfs are the most common final end state of stellar evolution, determining their internal structure will offer us many clues about stellar evolution, the physics of matter under extreme conditions, plus the history of star formation and age of the local Galactic disk. As a first step towards determining the internal structure of DB white dwarf stars, we provide a comprehensive set of theoretical g-mode pulsation periods for comparison to observations.Because DB white dwarfs have a layered structure consisting of a helium layer overlying the carbon/oxygen core, some modes will have the same wavelength as the thickness of the helium layer, allowing a resonance to form. This resonance is called mode trapping (see Brassard et al. 1992 and references therein) and has directly observable consequences, because modes at or near the resonance have eigenfunctions and pulsation periods that are similar to each other. This results in much smaller period spacings between consecutive overtone modes of the same spherical harmonic index than the uniform period spacings seen between non-trapped modes. We demonstrate with an example how one can use the distribution of pulsation periods to determine the total stellar mass, the mass of the helium surface layer, and the extent of the helium/carbon and carbon/oxygen transition zones. With these tools, we have the prospect of being able to determine the structure of the observed DBV white dwarfs, once the requisite observations become available.We are grateful to C.J. Hansen, S.D. Kawaler, R.E. Nather, and D.E. Winget for their encouragement and many discussions. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation under grants 85-52457 and 90-14655 through the University of Texas and McDonald Observatory.

The Cool White Dwarf Luminosity Function and the Age of the Galactic Disk

1998 ◽  
Vol 497 (1) ◽  
pp. 294-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. K. Leggett ◽  
Maria Teresa Ruiz ◽  
P. Bergeron
Keyword(s):  
White Dwarf ◽  
Luminosity Function ◽  
Galactic Disk

scholarly journals Carbon in the Envelopes of White Dwarfs

1979 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 188-191
Author(s):  
Francesca D’Antona
Keyword(s):  
Mass Loss ◽  
Stellar Evolution ◽  
White Dwarf ◽  
White Dwarfs ◽  
Current Theory ◽  
Core Mass ◽  
Maximum Extension ◽  
Nuclear Burning ◽  
Remnant Mass

Current theory of stellar evolution predicts that stars of initial masses up to 4-6 M⊙ evolve into Carbon-Oxygen White Dwarfs surrounded by a Helium envelope and, possibly, by a Hydrogen envelope. It also predicts that the mass of the Helium envelope which remains on the star at the end of its double shell burning evolution is a function of the Carbon-Oxygen core mass (Paczynski 1975). It can be shown that this mass can be reduced – but only slightly – during the following evolution of the star towards the White Dwarf region, either by nuclear burning or by mass loss (D’Antona and Mazzitelli 1979). During the White Dwarf stage, Helium convection grows into White Dwarfs having Helium atmospheres. The maximum extension of Helium convective mass is a function of the mass of the star (Fontaine and Van Horn 1976; D’Antona and Mazzitelli 1975,1979). It turns out that the Helium envelope remnant mass is always at least three orders of magnitude larger than the maximum Helium convective mass, whatever the mass of the star may be. This statement is unlikely to be changed by refinements either in the theory of double shell burning or in the theory of White Dwarf envelope convection.

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