Related papers: White dwarf cooling sequences and cosmochronology

We summarize recent improvements in model atmosphere and internal structure of faint white dwarfs. We derive an analytical cooling theory which illustrates the effects of various physical processes on the energy budget and the cooling…

Halo white dwarfs can provide important information about the properties and evolution of the galactic halo. In this paper we compute, assuming a standard IMF and updated models of white dwarf cooling, the expected luminosity function, both…

The white dwarf luminosity function is well understood in terms of standard model physics and leaves little room for exotic cooling mechanisms related to the possible existence of new weakly interacting light particles. This puts…

The evolution of white dwarfs is a cooling process that depends on the energy stored in the core and on the way in which it is transferred through the envelope. In this paper we show that despite some (erroneous) claims, the redistribution…

The white dwarf luminosity function, which provides information about their cooling, has been measured with high precision in the past few years. Simulations that include well known Standard Model physics give a good fit to the data. This…

White dwarf stars are the most common endpoint of stellar evolution. Therefore, these old, numerous and compact objects provide valuable information on the late stages of stellar evolution, the physics of dense plasma and the structure and…

Deriving precise stellar ages is a challenging task. Consequently, age-dependent relations - such as the age-metallicity and age-velocity dispersion relations of the Milky Way, or the age-rotation-activity relation of low-mass stars - are…

We have investigated the relationship between the kinematics and mass of young (<3x10^8 years) white dwarfs using proper motions. Our sample is taken from the colour selected catalogues of SDSS (Eisenstein et al. 2006) and the Palomar-Green…

The vast majority of stars that populate the Universe will end their evolution as white-dwarf stars. Applications of white dwarfs include cosmochronology, evolution of planetary systems, and also as laboratories to study non-standard…

We calculate the expected white dwarf luminosity functions and discovery functions in photometric passbands, if these stellar remnants provide a substantial fraction of the sought Galactic dark matter, as suggested on various observational…

We describe a new survey for cool white dwarfs that supplements Sloan Digital Sky Survey photometry with USNO proper motions and follow-up spectroscopy. To date we have discovered and spectroscopically confirmed 80 new moderate temperature…

Abridged. White dwarf stars are the final evolutionary stage of the vast majority of stars, including our Sun. The study of white dwarfs has potential applications to different fields of astrophysics. In particular, they can be used as…

In recent times, astounding observations of both over- and under-luminous type Ia supernovae have emerged. These peculiar observations hint not only at surpassing the Chandrasekhar limit but may also suggest potential modifications in the…

Motivated by the possibility that the fundamental ``constants'' of nature could vary with time, this paper considers the long term evolution of white dwarf stars under the combined action of proton decay and variations in the gravitational…

White dwarfs are the end-product of the lifes of intermediate- and low-mass stars and their evolution is described as a simple cooling process. Recently, it has been possible to determine with an unprecedented precision their luminosity…

Context. White dwarfs can be used to study the structure and evolution of the Galaxy by analysing their luminosity function and initial mass function. Among them, the very cool white dwarfs provide the information for the early ages of each…

White dwarfs rotate. The angular momentum in single white dwarfs must originate early in the life of the star, but also must be modified (and perhaps severely modified) during the many stages of evolution between birth as a main--sequence…

Recent Hubble Space Telescope observations have unveiled the white dwarf cooling sequence of the Galactic bulge. Although the degenerate sequence can be well fitted employing the most up-to-date theoretical cooling sequences, observations…

White dwarfs are stellar remnants devoid of a nuclear energy source, gradually cooling over billions of years and eventually freezing into a solid state from the inside out. Recently, it was discovered that a population of freezing white…

The white dwarf luminosity function has proven to be an excellent tool to study some properties of the galactic disk such as its age and the past history of the local star formation rate. The existence of an observational luminosity…