Related papers: Death by Dynamics: Planetoid-Induced Explosions on…
We know that planetary systems are just as common around white dwarfs as around main sequence stars. However, self-consistently linking a planetary system across these two phases of stellar evolution through the violent giant branch poses…
White dwarfs which explode by the double-detonation mechanism may have a binary white dwarf donor which is subsequently ignited by its collision with the ejecta. This results in the destruction of the donor via either the triple- or…
Tidal interactions can play an important role as compact white dwarf (WD) binaries are driven together by gravitational waves (GWs). This will modify the strain evolution measured by future space-based GW detectors and impact the potential…
Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are common luminous astrophysical transients. SNe Ia serve as distance indicators for measuring the expansion rate of the universe and play important roles in galactic nucleosynthesis. However, ambiguities…
Planetary systems commonly survive the evolution of single stars, as evidenced by terrestrial-like planetesimal debris observed orbiting and polluting the surfaces of white dwarfs. This letter reports the identification of a circumbinary…
Taking into account the rotation of mass-accreting white dwarfs (WDs) whose masses exceed the Chandrasekhar mass, we extend our new single degenerate model for the progenitors of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), accounting for two types of…
White dwarfs with metal pollution are caused by the accretion of rocky dust from tidally disrupted minor bodies and are signposts for planetary systems. These minor bodies are perturbed by planets that have survived post-main sequence…
We have computed the physical processes involved in a head-on collision between a neutron star (NS) and a white dwarf (WD). The outcomes of such collisions vary depending on the mass and type of the WD. We have separately examined the…
We study the spinning down time scale of rapidly rotating white dwarfs (WDs) in the frame of the core-degenerate (CD) scenario for type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). In the CD scenario the Chandrasekhar or super-Chandrasekhar mass WD is formed at…
The evolutionary path of rotating CO WDs directly accreting CO-rich matter is followed up to few seconds before the explosive breakout in the framework of the Double Degenerate rotationally-driven accretion scenario. We find that the…
Atmospheric heavy elements have been observed in more than a quarter of white dwarfs (WDs) at different cooling ages, indicating ongoing accretion of asteroidal material, whilst only a few per cent of the WDs possess a dust disk, and all…
Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) are securely understood to come from the thermonuclear explosion of a white dwarf as a result of binary interaction, but the nature of that binary interaction and the secondary object is uncertain. Recently, a…
The detection of a dust disc around G29-38 and transits from debris orbiting WD1145+017 confirmed that the photospheric trace metals found in many white dwarfs arise from the accretion of tidally disrupted planetesimals. The composition of…
Tidal disruption events are common in the Universe, which may occur in various compact star systems and could account for many astrophysical phenomena. Depending on the separation between the central compact star and its companion, either a…
We present a brief summary of the Single Degenerate Scenario for the progenitors of Type Ia Supernovae in which it is assumed that a low mass carbon-oxygen white dwarf is growing in mass as a result of accretion from a secondary star in a…
Many potential mechanisms for delivering planetary debris to within a few Roche radii of white dwarfs rely on gravitational scattering events that feature perturbers which are giant planets or terrestrial planets. However, the population of…
The progenitor systems of Type-Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are yet unknown. The collisional-triple SN Ia progenitor model posits that SNe Ia result from head-on collisions of binary white dwarfs (WDs), driven by dynamical perturbations by the…
The near-term search for life beyond the solar system currently focuses on transiting planets orbiting small M dwarfs, and the challenges of detecting signs of life in their atmospheres. However, planets orbiting white dwarfs (WDs) would…
A definitive determination of the progenitors of type Ia supernovae (SNIa) has been a conundrum for decades. The single degenerate scenario $-$ a white dwarf (WD) in a semi-detached binary system accreting mass from its secondary $-$ is a…
Extrapolating from the solar system's asteroid belt, we propose that externally-contaminated white dwarfs without an infrared excess may be experiencing continuous accretion of gas-phase material that ultimately is derived from the tidal…