Related papers: A wide binary trigger for white dwarf pollution

We describe the evolution of double degenerate binary systems, consisting of components obeying the zero temperature mass radius relationship for white dwarf stars, from the onset of mass transfer to one of several possible outcomes…

White dwarfs that have accreted planetary bodies are a powerful probe of the bulk composition of exoplanetary material. In this paper, we present a Bayesian model to explain the abundances observed in the atmospheres of 202 DZ white dwarfs…

The magnetic white dwarfs (MWDs) are found either isolated or in interacting binaries. They divide into two groups: a high field group (0.1-1,000MegaGauss) comprising some 13% of all white dwarfs (WDs), and a low field group (B<0.1MG) whose…

Planets and other low-mass binary companions to stars face a variety of potential fates as their host stars move off the main sequence and grow to subgiants and giants. Stellar mass loss tends to make orbits expand, and tidal torques tend…

White dwarfs (WDs) are powerful tools to study the evolutionary history of stars and binaries in the Galaxy. But do we understand their multiplicity from a theoretical point of view? This can be tested by a comparison with the sample of WDs…

The presence of a close, low-mass companion is thought to play a substantial and perhaps necessary role in shaping post-Asymptotic Giant Branch and Planetary Nebula outflows. During post-main-sequence evolution, radial expansion of the…

Compact Galactic binaries where at least one member is a white dwarf or neutron star constitute the majority of individually detectable sources for future low-frequency space-based gravitational-wave (GW) observatories; they also form an…

Dynamically active planetary systems orbit a significant fraction of white dwarf stars. These stars often exhibit surface metals accreted from debris disks, which are detected through infrared excess or transiting structures. However, the…

Most observations of polluted white dwarf atmospheres are consistent with accretion of water depleted planetary material. Among tens of known cases, merely two cases involve accretion of objects that contain a considerable mass fraction of…

The inwards scattering of planetesimals towards white dwarfs is expected to be a stochastic process with variability on human time-scales. The planetesimals tidally disrupt at the Roche radius, producing dusty debris detectable as excess…

The origin of highly-magnetized white dwarfs has remained a mystery since their initial discovery. Recent observations indicate that the formation of high-field magnetic white dwarfs is intimately related to strong binary interactions…

We present a long-term programme for timing the eclipses of white dwarfs in close binaries to measure apparent and/or real variations in their orbital periods. Our programme includes 67 close binaries, both detached and semi-detached and…

Binary systems consisting of a white dwarf and a main-sequence companion with orbital periods up to $\approx 100$ d are often thought to be formed through common envelope evolution which is still poorly understood. To provide new…

Observations of atmospheric metals and dust discs around white dwarfs provide important clues to the fate of terrestrial planetary systems around intermediate mass stars. We present Spitzer IRAC observations of 15 metal polluted white…

The origin of magnetic white dwarfs (MWDs) has been a long-standing puzzle. Proposed origin mechanisms have included: fossil fields frozen in from the progenitor convective core; a dynamo in the progenitor envelope; crystallization dynamos…

The metal budgets in some white dwarf (WD) atmospheres reveal that volatile-rich circumstellar bodies must both exist in extrasolar systems and survive the giant branch phases of stellar evolution. The resulting behaviour of these active…

At intervals as short as ten thousand years, each white dwarf (WD) passes within a solar radius of a planetoid, i.e., a comet, asteroid, or planet. Gravitational tidal forces tear the planetoid apart; its metal-rich debris falls onto the…

A gas giant planet which survives the giant branch stages of evolution at a distance of many au and then is subsequently perturbed sufficiently close to a white dwarf will experience orbital shrinkage and circularization due to star-planet…

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…

The atmospheres of a large proportion of white dwarf stars are polluted by heavy elements that are expected to sink out of visible layers on short timescales. This has been interpreted as a signature of ongoing accretion of debris from…