Related papers: An ultra-massive white dwarf with a mixed hydrogen…
We revisit the problem of the formation of DB white dwarfs, as well as the origin of hydrogen in DBA stars, using a new set of envelope model calculations with stratified and mixed hydrogen/helium compositions. We first describe an…
The Gaia colour--magnitude diagram reveals a striking separation between hydrogen-atmosphere white dwarfs and their helium-atmosphere counterparts throughout a significant portion of the white dwarf cooling track. However, pure-helium…
Seven ultra low-mass and small-radius white dwarfs (LSPM J0815+1633, LP 240-30, BD+20 5125B, LP 462-12, WD J1257+5428, 2MASS J13453297+4200437, and SDSS J085557.46+053524.5) have been recently identified with masses ranging from $\sim$0.02…
We present a detailed calculation of model atmospheres for DA white dwarfs. Our atmosphere code solves the atmosphere structure in local thermodynamic equilibrium with a standard partial linearization technique, which takes into account the…
The surface abundances of extreme helium (EHe) and R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars are discussed in terms of the merger of a carbon-oxygen white dwarf with a helium white dwarf. The model is expressed as a linear mixture of the individual…
A magnetic dynamo driven by differential rotation generated when stars merge can explain strong fields in certain classes of magnetic stars, including the high field magnetic white dwarfs (HFMWDs). In their case the site of the differential…
Although multidimensional simulations have investigated the processes of double WD mergers, post-merger evolution only focused on the carbon-oxygen (CO) WD or helium (He) WD merger remnants. In this work, we investigate for the first time…
The convective dredge-up of carbon from the interiors of hydrogen-deficient white dwarfs has long been invoked to explain the presence of carbon absorption features in the spectra of cool DQ stars ($T_{\rm eff} < 10{,}000\,{\rm K}$). It has…
We present a nucleosynthesis study of the merger of a 0.4 solar masses helium white dwarf with a 0.8 solar masses carbon-oxygen white dwarf, coupling the thermodynamic history of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics particles with a…
We present radial velocity observations of four extremely low-mass (0.2 Msol) white dwarfs. All four stars show peak-to-peak radial velocity variations of 540 - 710 km/s with 1.0 - 5.9 hr periods. The optical photometry rules out…
Hot, compact, hydrogen-deficient pre-white dwarfs (pre-WDs) with effective temperatures of Teff > 70,000 K and a surface gravity of 5.0 < log g < 7.0 are rather rare objects despite recent and ongoing surveys. It is believed that they are…
We report the detection of 13 heavy elements (Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, and Sr) in the photosphere of LSPM J0207+3331, a ~3 Gyr old hydrogen-rich white dwarf with an effective temperature comparable to that of the Sun.…
We present an analysis of the most massive white dwarf candidates in the Montreal White Dwarf Database 100 pc sample. We identify 25 objects that would be more massive than $1.3~M_{\odot}$ if they had pure H atmospheres and CO cores,…
Around 10% of white dwarfs exhibit global magnetic structures with fields ranging from 1 kG to hundreds of MG. Recently, the first radiation magnetohydrodynamics simulations of the atmosphere of white dwarfs showed that convection should be…
Orbital decay mechanisms argue that double white dwarf mergers are inevitable, but extremely rare. Whilst some mergers result in explosions, the survivors re-ignite helium and burn brightly for tens of thousands or millions of years.…
As a result of competing physical mechanisms, the atmospheric composition of white dwarfs changes throughout their evolution, a process known as spectral evolution. Because of the ambiguity of their atmospheric compositions and the…
We present new spectroscopic observations of the polluted, dusty, helium-dominated atmosphere white dwarf star HE1349-2305. Optical spectroscopy reveals weak CaII infrared triplet emission indicating that metallic gas debris orbits and is…
We explore different evolutionary scenarios to explain the helium deficiency observed in H1504+65, the most massive known PG1159 star. We concentrate mainly on the possibility that this star could be the result of mass loss shortly after…
We present a set of ultramassive white dwarf models, focused on masses above $1.3\,M_\odot$. Given the uncertainties about the formation and compositions of such objects, we construct parameterized model sequences, guided by evolutionary…
We present a series of systematic abundance measurements for a group of hot DA white dwarfs in the temperature range 20,000-75,000K, based on far-UV spectroscopy with STIS on HST, IUE and FUSE. Using our latest heavy element blanketed…