L. G. Althaus

White dwarf mass distribution in the SDSS

We determined masses for the 7167 DA and 507 DB white dwarf stars classified as single and non-magnetic in Data Release 4 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We obtained revised T eff and log g determinations for the most massive stars by fitting the SDSS optical spectra with a synthetic spectra grid derived from model atmospheres extending to log g = 10.0. We also calculate radii from evolutionary models and create volume-corrected mass distributions for our DA and DB samples. The mean mass for the DA stars brighter than g = 19 and hotter than T eff = 12 000 K is (M) DA ≃0.593 ± 0.016.M ⊙ . For the 150 DBs brighter than g = 19 and hotter than T eff = 16000 K, we find (M) DB = 0.711 ± 0.009 M ⊙ . It appears the mean mass for DB white dwarf stars may be significantly larger than that for DAs. We also report the highest mass white dwarf stars ever found, up to 1.33 M ⊙ .

SDSS DR7 WHITE DWARF CATALOG

We present a new catalog of spectroscopically confirmed white dwarf stars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 spectroscopic catalog. We find 20,407 white dwarf spectra, representing 19,712 stars, and provide atmospheric model fits to 14,120 DA and 1011 DB white dwarf spectra from 12,843 and 923 stars, respectively. These numbers represent more than a factor of two increase in the total number of white dwarf stars from the previous SDSS white dwarf catalogs based on DR4 data. Our distribution of subtypes varies from previous catalogs due to our more conservative, manual classifications of each star in our catalog, supplementing our automatic fits. In particular, we find a large number of magnetic white dwarf stars whose small Zeeman splittings mimic increased Stark broadening that would otherwise result in an overestimated log g if fit as a non-magnetic white dwarf. We calculate mean DA and DB masses for our clean, non-magnetic sample and find the DB mean mass is statistically larger than that for the DAs.

Evolutionary and pulsational properties of white dwarf stars

White dwarf stars are the final evolutionary stage of the vast majority of stars, including our Sun. Since the coolest white dwarfs are very old objects, the present population of white dwarfs contains a wealth of information on the evolution of stars from birth to death, and on the star formation rate throughout the history of our Galaxy. Thus, the study of white dwarfs has potential applications in different fields of astrophysics. In particular, white dwarfs can be used as independent reliable cosmic clocks, and can also provide valuable information about the fundamental parameters of a wide variety of stellar populations, such as our Galaxy and open and globular clusters. In addition, the high densities and temperatures characterizing white dwarfs allow these stars to be used as cosmic laboratories for studying physical processes under extreme conditions that cannot be achieved in terrestrial laboratories. Last but not least, since many white dwarf stars undergo pulsational instabilities, the study of their properties constitutes a powerful tool for applications beyond stellar astrophysics. In particular, white dwarfs can be used to constrain fundamental properties of elementary particles such as axions and neutrinos and to study problems related to the variation of fundamental constants. These potential applications of white dwarfs have led to renewed interest in the calculation of very detailed evolutionary and pulsational models for these stars. In this work, we review the essentials of the physics of white dwarf stars. We enumerate the reasons that make these stars excellent chronometers, and we describe why white dwarfs provide tools for a wide variety of applications. Special emphasis is placed on the physical processes that lead to the formation of white dwarfs as well as on the different energy sources and processes responsible for chemical abundance changes that occur along their evolution. Moreover, in the course of their lives, white dwarfs cross different pulsational instability strips. The existence of these instability strips provides astronomers with a unique opportunity to peer into their internal structure that would otherwise remain hidden from observers. We will show that this allows one to measure stellar masses with unprecedented precision and to infer their envelope thicknesses, to probe the core chemical stratification, and to detect rotation rates and magnetic fields. Consequently, in this work, we also review the pulsational properties of white dwarfs and the most recent applications of white dwarf asteroseismology.

New cooling sequences for old white dwarfs

We present full evolutionary calculations appropriate for the study of hydrogen-rich DA white dwarfs. This is done by evolving white dwarf progenitors from the zero-age main sequence, through the core hydrogen-burning phase, the helium-burning phase, and the thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch phase to the white dwarf stage. Complete evolutionary sequences are computed for a wide range of stellarmasses and for two different metallicities, Z = 0.01, which is representative of the solar neighborhood, and Z = 0.001, which is appropriate for the study of old stellar systems, like globular clusters. During the white dwarf cooling stage, we self-consistently compute the phase in which nuclear reactions are still important, the diffusive evolution of the elements in the outer layers and, finally, we also take into account all the relevant energy sources in the deep interior of the white dwarf, such as the release of latent heat and the release of gravitational energy due to carbon–oxygen phase separation upon crystallization. We also provide colors and magnitudes for these sequences, based on a new set of improved non-gray white dwarf model atmospheres, which include the most up-to-date physical inputs like the Lyα quasi-molecular opacity. The calculations are extended down to an effective temperature of 2500 K. Our calculations provide a homogeneous set of evolutionary cooling tracks appropriate for mass and age determinations of old DA white dwarfs and for white dwarf cosmochronology of the different Galactic populations.

The formation and evolution of hydrogen-deficient post-AGB white dwarfs: The emerging chemical profile and the expectations for the PG 1159-DB-DQ evolutionary connection

We explore the formation and evolution of hydrogen-deficient post-AGB white dwarfs. To this end, we compute the complete evolution of an initially 2.7 Mstar from the zero-age main sequence through the thermally pulsing and mass-loss phases to the white dwarf stage. Particular attention is given to the chemical abundance changes during the whole evolution. A time-dependent scheme for the simultaneous treatment of abundance changes caused by nuclear reactions, diffusive overshoot- ing, salt fingers and convection is considered. We employed the double-diffusive mixing-length theory of convection for fluids with composition gradients. The study can therefore be considered as a test of its performance in low-mass stars. Also, time- dependent element diffusion for multicomponent gases is taken into account during the white dwarf evolution. The evolutionary stages corresponding to the last helium thermal pulse on the early white-dwarf cooling branch and the following born-again episode are carefully explored. Relevant aspects for PG 1159 stars and DB white dwarf evolution are studied in the framework of these new evolutionary models that take into account the history of the white dwarf progenitor. The scope of the calculations is extended to the domain of the helium-rich, carbon-contaminated DQ white dwarfs with the aim of exploring the plausibility of the evolutionary connection PG 1159-DB-DQ. In this regard, the implications for the double-layered chemical structure in pulsating DB white dwarfs is investigated. We examine the consequences of mass-loss episodes during the PG 1159 stage for the chemical stratification of the outer layer of DB and DQ white dwarfs.

A white dwarf cooling age of 8 Gyr for NGC 6791 from physical separation processes

NGC 6791 is a well studied open cluster that it is so close to us that can be imaged down to very faint luminosities. The main-sequence turn-off age (∼8 Gyr) and the age derived from the termination of the white dwarf cooling sequence (∼6 Gyr) are very different. One possible explanation is that as white dwarfs cool, one of the ashes of helium burning, 22Ne, sinks in the deep interior of these stars. At lower temperatures, white dwarfs are expected to crystallize and phase separation of the main constituents of the core of a typical white dwarf (12C and 16O) is expected to occur. This sequence of events is expected to introduce long delays in the cooling times, but has not hitherto been proven. Here we report that, as theoretically anticipated, physical separation processes occur in the cores of white dwarfs, resolving the age discrepancy for NGC 6791.

New evolutionary sequences for extremely low-mass white dwarfs - Homogeneous mass and age determinations and asteroseismic prospects

Fil: Althaus, Leandro Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico la Plata. Instituto de Astrofisica de la Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronomicas y Geofisicas; Argentina

Grids of white dwarf evolutionary models with masses from M = 0.1 to 1.2 m⊙

We present detailed evolutionary calculations for carbon--oxygen- and helium-core white dwarf models with masses ranging from M= 0.1 to 1.2 M⊙ and for metallicities Z = 0.001 and 0. The sequences cover a wide range of hydrogen envelopes as well. We have taken finite-temperature effects fully into account by means of a detailed white dwarf evolutionary code, in which updated radiative opacities and equations of state for hydrogen and helium plasmas are considered. The energy transport by convection is treated within the formalism of the full-spectrum turbulence theory, as given by the self-consistent model of Canuto, Goldman & Mazzitelli. Convective mixing, crystallization, hydrogen burning and neutrino energy losses are taken into account as well. The set of models presented here is very detailed and should be valuable, particularly for the interpretation of observational data on low-mass white dwarfs recently discovered in numerous binary configurations, and also for the general problem of determining the theoretical luminosity function for white dwarfs. In this context, we compare our cooling sequences with the observed white dwarf luminosity function recently improved by Leggett, Ruiz & Bergeron and we obtain an age for the Galactic disc of ≈ 8 Gyr. Finally, we apply the results of this paper to derive stellar masses of a sample of low-mass white dwarfs.

Modeling He-rich subdwarfs through the hot-flasher scenario

We present 1D numerical simulations aimed at studying the hot-flasher scenario for the formation of He-rich subdwarf stars. Sequences were calculated for a wide range of metallicities and physical assumptions, such as the stellar mass at the moment of the helium core flash. This allows us to study the two previously proposed flavors of the hot-flasher scenario (“deep” and “shallow” mixing cases) and to identify a third transition type. Our sequences are calculated by solving simultaneously the mixing and burning equations within a diffusive convection picture, and in the context of standard mixing length theory. We are able to follow chemical evolution during deep-mixing events in which hydrogen is burned violently, and therefore able to present a homogeneous set of abundances for different metallicities and varieties of hot-flashers. We extend the scope of our work by analyzing the effects of non-standard assumptions, such as the effect of chemical gradients, extra-mixing at convective boundaries, possible reduction in convective velocities, or the interplay between difussion and mass loss. Particular emphasis is placed on the predicted surface properties of the models.
We find that the hot-flasher scenario is a viable explanation for the formation and surface properties of He-sdO stars. Our results also show that, during the early He-core burning stage, element diffusion may produce the transformation of (post hot-flasher) He-rich atmospheres into He-deficient ones. If this is so, then we find that He-sdO stars should be the progenitors of some of the hottest sdB stars.

Evolution of Helium White Dwarfs of Low and Intermediate Masses

We present detailed calculations of the evolution of low-mass, helium white dwarf models with masses from M = 0.1 to M = 0.5 M? at intervals of 0.05 M? and with a metallicity of Z = 10-3. For this purpose, we have taken fully into account finite-temperature effects by means of a detailed and updated stellar evolutionary code, in which the convective energy transport is described according to the new model for turbulent convection developed by Canuto & Mazzitelli. Furthermore, our code considers the most recent opacity data computed by the Livermore Group (OPAL data), and also the new equation of state for helium plasmas developed by Saumon, Chabrier, & Van Horn. Neutrino emission is fully taken into account as well. For models with M ? 0.3 M? we started our calculations from fully convective models located at the helium-Hayashi line for each configuration, far away from the white dwarf regime. By contrast, the evolutionary sequences corresponding to 0.35, 0.4, 0.45, and 0.5 M? were started from initial models resembling white dwarf structures. This was necessary in order to avoid the onset of helium burning. A consequence of this constraint is the existence of a forbidden region in the HR diagram above log (L/L?) = -0.25 and hotter than log Teff = 4.45, where helium white dwarfs can exist only for brief intervals. All the models were evolved to log (L/L?) = -5. The evolutionary tracks in the HR diagram have been carefully analyzed, and we found that the convective efficiency affects the tracks noticeably only in the high-luminosity (pre-white dwarf) regime. We also examined the evolution of central conditions, neutrino luminosity, radii, surface gravity, and ages. Central densities, radii, and surface gravities asymptotically approach the zero temperature Hamada-Salpeter results, as expected. Neutrino losses are important for the more massive helium white dwarf configurations and should be taken into account in detailed evolutionary studies of these objects. Finally, the structure of the outer convective zone was analyzed in both the framework of the mixing length theory (for different convective efficiencies) and the Canuto & Mazzitelli theory. We found that the profile of the outer convective zone given by the Canuto & Mazzitelli model is very different from that given by any version of the mixing length theory. This behavior is critical for pulsational instability; however, stellar parameters such as radius and surface gravity are not significantly affected in the white dwarf domain. These models should be especially suitable for the interpretation of the data about the recently discovered low-mass white dwarfs in systems containing another white dwarf or a millisecond pulsar.