Related papers: The initial-final mass relationship from white dwa…
We present the first detailed 3D kinematic analysis of a sample of 3133 white dwarfs that use Gaia astrometry plus radial velocities, which were measured either by Gaia or by ground based spectroscopic observations. The sample includes…
The use of Reduced Proper Motion in identifying isolated white dwarfs has long been used as a proxy for the absolute magnitude in a population with known kinematics. This, however, introduces a proper motion detection limit on top of the…
In Galactic open clusters, there is an apparent paucity of white dwarfs compared to the number expected assuming a reasonable initial mass function and that main-sequence stars with initial mass <= 8 M_sun become white dwarfs. We suggest…
White dwarf masses in cataclysmic variables are difficult to determine accurately, but are fundamental for understanding binary system parameters, as well as binary evolution. We investigate the X-ray spectral properties of a sample of…
We have performed a search for halo white dwarfs as high proper motion objects in a second epoch WFPC2 image of the Groth-Westphal strip. We identify 24 high proper motion objects with mu > 0.014 ''/yr. Five of these high proper motion…
We present detailed theoretical mass-radius relations for massive white dwarf stars with oxygen-neon cores. This work is motivated by recent observational evidence about the existence of white dwarf stars with very high surface gravities.…
The limiting mass of cold white dwarfs was first calculated by E. Stoner in an approximate model of a uniform star and was soon reduced by ~20% in papers by S. Chandrasekhar and L. D. Landau based on an exact solution of the equations for…
Astrometric observations of resolved binaries provide estimates of orbital periods and will eventually lead to measurement of dynamical masses. Only a few very low mass star and brown dwarf masses have been measured to date, and the…
The origin of magnetic fields in white dwarfs remains a fundamental unresolved problem in stellar astrophysics. In particular, the very different fractions of strongly (exceeding 1 MG) magnetic white dwarfs in evolutionarily linked…
The prediction of the spins of the compact remnants is a fundamental goal of the theory of stellar evolution. Here, we confront the predictions for white dwarf spins from evolutionary models including rotation with observational…
White dwarfs (WDs) can be used as laboratories to test strong gravity and high-density regimes, once their equation of state is not so uncertain as the one of neutron stars. This makes them also a useful tool to constrain dark-matter…
We make use of a previous well tested Galactic model, but describing the observational behavior of the various stellar components in terms of suitable assumptions on their evolutionary status. In this way we are able to predict the expected…
We review recent advances in our understanding of the origin of the initial mass function (IMF). We emphasize the use of numerical simulations to investigate how each physical process involved in star formation affects the resulting IMF. We…
We present a statistical comparison of the mass ratio distribution of companions, as observed in different multiplicity surveys, to the most recent estimate of the single object mass function (Bochanski et al. 2010). The main goal of our…
A young and undermassive white dwarf has been identified as the possible companion to the millisecond pulsar PSR B1620-26 in Messier 4. This association is important as it then helps constrain the mass of the third body in the system to be…
Short period double degenerates (DDs) are close white dwarf - white dwarf binary stars which are the result of the evolution of interacting binary stars. We present the first definitive measurements of the mass ratio for two DDs, WD0136+768…
If dark matter is ultra-light and has certain Standard Model interactions, it can change the mass-radius relation of white dwarf stars. The coherence length of ultra-light dark matter imparts spatial correlations in deviations from the…
Using Eggleton's stellar evolution code, we carry out 150 runs of Pop I binary evolution calculations, with the initial primary mass between 1 and 8 solar masses the initial mass ratio between 1.1 and 4, and the onset of Roche lobe overflow…
Context. White dwarf-main sequence (WDMS) binaries are used to study several different important open problems in modern astrophysics. Aims. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) identified the largest catalogue of WDMS binaries currently…
Approximately 25--50\% of white dwarfs (WDs) exhibit metal absorption lines in their photospheres, interpreted as evidence of ongoing/recent accretion of planetary debris from remnant systems. Previous theoretical studies have suggested…