Related papers: The white dwarf luminosity function
Most of low- and intermediate-mass stars that populate the Universe will end their lives as white dwarf stars. These ancient stellar remnants have encrypted inside a precious record of the evolutionary history of the progenitor stars,…
Within the theoretical framework of some modern unification theories the constants of nature are functions of cosmological time. White dwarfs offer the possibility of testing a possible variation of G and, thus, to place constraints to…
The evolution of white dwarfs is a simple gravothermal process of cooling. Since the shape of their luminosity function is sensitive to the characteristic cooling time, it is possible to use its slope to test the existence of additional…
White dwarfs, the final evolutionary stage of the vast majority of stars, serve as critical tools for cosmochronology, studies of planetary system evolution, and laboratories for non-standard physics, including exotic cooling channels and…
An accurate assessment of white dwarf cooling times is paramount to place white dwarf cosmochronology of Galactic populations on more solid grounds. This issue is particularly relevant in view of the enhanced observational capabilities…
White dwarfs are the burnt out cores of Sun-like stars and are the final fate of 97% of all stars in our Galaxy. The internal structure and composition of white dwarfs are hidden by their high gravities, which causes all elements, apart…
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…
Using a new grid of models of cooling white dwarfs, we calculate isochrones and luminosity functions in the Johnson-Kron/Cousins and HST filter sets for systems containing old white dwarfs. These new models incorporate a non-grey atmosphere…
We present a set of full evolutionary sequences for white dwarfs with hydrogen-deficient atmospheres. We take into account the evolutionary history of the progenitor stars, all the relevant energy sources involved in the cooling, element…
The termination in the white dwarf luminosity function is a standard diagnostic tool for measuring the total age of nearby stellar populations. In this paper, an algorithm is presented for inverting the full white dwarf luminosity function…
In our galaxy, white dwarfs inevitably undergo scattering and capture processes with the interstellar diffuse dark matter. The captured dark matter forms a dark halo that eventually evaporates or annihilates. Theoretical pulsation modes and…
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…
Aims: We study single and binary white dwarfs in the inner halo of the Milky Way in order to learn more about the conditions under which the population of halo stars was born, such as the initial mass function (IMF), the star formation…
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…
We use 10 orbits of Advanced Camera for Surveys observations to reach the end of the white dwarf cooling sequence in the solar-metallicity open cluster NGC 2158. Our photometry and completeness tests show that the end falls at magnitude…
White dwarfs are almost completely degenerate objects that cannot obtain energy from the thermonuclear sources and their evolution is just a gravothermal process of cooling. The simplicity of these objects, the fact that the physical inputs…
White dwarfs are the most common endpoints of stellar evolution. They are often found in close binary systems in which the white dwarf is accreting matter from a companion star, either via an accretion disc or channelled along the white…
Population III stars are characterized by extremely low metallicities as they are thought to be formed from a pristine gas in the early Universe. Although the existence of Population III stars is widely accepted, the lack of direct…
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…
White dwarfs and neutron stars are stellar objects with masses comparable to that of our sun. However, as the endpoint stages of stellar evolution, these objects do not sustain any thermonuclear burning and therefore can no longer support…