White Dwarfs in Globular Clusters
Abstract
We review empirical and theoretical findings concerning white dwarfs in Galactic globular clusters. Since their detection is a critical issue we describe in detail the various efforts to find white dwarfs in globular clusters. We then outline the advantages of using cluster white dwarfs to investigate the formation and evolution of white dwarfs and concentrate on evolutionary channels that appear to be unique to globular clusters. We also discuss the usefulness of globular cluster white dwarfs to provide independent information on the distances and ages of globular clusters, information that is very important far beyond the immediate field of white dwarf research. Finally, we mention possible future avenues concerning globular cluster white dwarfs, like the study of strange quark matter or plasma neutrinos.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0806.4456,
title = {White Dwarfs in Globular Clusters},
author = {S. Moehler and G. Bono},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0806.4456},
year = {2011}
}
Comments
Invited Review for "White Dwarfs" (Springer, ASSL), updated to include papers published until end of 2010 (due to delay in publication), 34 pages, 1 figure at reduced resolution; references added