Related papers: Luminosity and cooling suppression in magnetized w…
The evolution of white dwarfs (WDs) depends crucially on thermal processes. The plasma in their core can produce neutrinos which escape from the star, thus contributing to the energy loss. While in absence of a magnetic field the main…
White dwarfs are the final remnants of low- and intermediate-mass stars. Their evolution is essentially a cooling process that lasts for $\sim 10$ Gyr. Their observed properties provide information about the history of the Galaxy, its dark…
White dwarfs, the extremely dense remnants left behind by most stars after their death, are characterised by a mass comparable to that of the Sun compressed into the size of an Earth-like planet. In the resulting strong gravity, heavy…
We study the evolution of white dwarf (WD) magnetic fields that originate from core-convective dynamos during the main-sequence. Using stellar evolution and WD cooling models combined with magnetic field diffusion calculations, we…
We present follow-up spectroscopy and a detailed model atmosphere analysis of 29 wide double white dwarfs, including eight systems with a crystallized C/O core member. We use state-of-the-art evolutionary models to constrain the physical…
We examine four candidate mechanisms that could explain the high surface temperatures of magnetars. (1) Heat flux from the liquid core heated by ambipolar diffusion. It could sustain the observed surface luminosity $L_s\approx 10^{35}$…
White dwarfs are stellar embers depleted of nuclear energy sources that cool over billions of years. These stars, which are supported by electron degeneracy pressure, reach densities of 1e7 grams per cubic centimetre in their cores. It has…
Microlensing events observed in the line of sight toward the LMC indicate that a significant fraction of the mass of the dark halo of the Galaxy is probably composed of white dwarfs. In addition, white dwarf sequences have now be observed…
We investigate whether the recently suggested rotation and crystallization driven dynamo can explain the apparent increase of magnetism in old metal polluted white dwarfs. We find that the effective temperature distribution of polluted…
We present evolutionary calculations and colors for massive white dwarfs with oxygen-neon cores for masses between 1.06 and 1.28 Mo. The evolutionary stages computed cover the luminosity range from log(L/Lo) approx. 0.5 down to -5.2. Our…
Many stars evolve into magnetic white dwarfs, and observations may help to understand when the magnetic field appears at the stellar surface, if and how it evolves during the cooling phase, and what are the mechanisms that generate it.…
Accurate models of cooling white dwarfs must treat the energy released as their cores crystallize. This phase transition slows the cooling by releasing latent heat and also gravitational energy, which results from phase separation: liquid C…
We computed the contribution of the Compton and Bremsstrahlung processes with a hidden light $U(1)_D$ neutral boson $\gamma_D$ to the white dwarf G117-B15A anomalous cooling rate, as well as the white dwarf luminosity functions (WDLF). We…
Evolution of a large part of low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) leads to the formation of rapidly rotating pulsars with a helium white dwarf (He WD) companion. Observations indicate that some He WDs in binary pulsar systems are ultracool (with…
White Dwarfs (WDs) are the final evolutionary product of the vast majority of stars in the Universe. They are electron-degenerate structures characterized by no stable thermonuclear activity, and their evolution is generally described as a…
A significant fraction of white dwarfs harbour a magnetic field with strengths ranging from a few kG up to about 1000 MG. The fraction appears to depend on the specific class of white dwarfs being investigated and may hold some clues to the…
Context: There is now growing evidence that some brown dwarfs (BDs) have very strong magnetic fields, and yet their surface temperatures are so low that the coupling is expected to be small between the matter and the magnetic field in the…
We present 4.5$\mu$m and 8$\mu$m photometric observations of 18 cool white dwarfs obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope. Our observations demonstrate that four white dwarfs with T_eff< 6000 K show slightly depressed mid-infrared fluxes…
A photometric and spectroscopic analysis of 152 cool white dwarf stars is presented. The discovery of 7 new DA white dwarfs, 2 new DQ white dwarfs, 1 new magnetic white dwarf, and 3 weak magnetic white dwarf candidates, is reported, as well…
Given the importance of white dwarfs (WDs) in many fields of modern astrophysics, the precise knowledge of the actual degree of accuracy of the associated theoretical predictions is a primary task. In the first paper of a series dedicated…