Related papers: White dwarf - main sequence star collisions from w…
Low mass white dwarfs are the remnants of disrupted red giant stars in binary millisecond pulsars and other exotic binary star systems. Some low mass white dwarfs cool rapidly, while others stay bright for millions of years due to stable…
Massive stars (those larger than 8 solar masses at formation) have radiative envelopes that cannot sustain a dynamo, the mechanism that produces magnetic fields in lower-mass stars. Despite this, approximately 7\% of massive stars have…
We compute the possible observational signatures of white dwarf dynamical interactions in dense stellar environments. Specifically, we compute the emission of gravitational waves, and we compare it with the sensitivity curves of planned…
We investigate emission signatures of binary compact star gravitational wave sources consisting of strongly magnetized neutron stars (NSs) and/or white dwarfs (WDs) in their late-time inspiral phase. Because of electromagnetic interactions…
White dwarfs are the end state of most stars, including the Sun, after they exhaust their nuclear fuel. Between 1/4 and 1/2 of white dwarfs have elements heavier than helium in their atmospheres, even though these elements should rapidly…
Neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes are the remnants of massive stars, which ended their lives in supernova explosions. These exotic objects can only be studied in relatively rare cases. If they are interacting with close companions…
Circumstellar disks of planetary debris are now known or suspected to closely orbit hundreds of white dwarf stars. To date, both data and theory support disks that are entirely contained within the preceding giant stellar radii, and hence…
The maximum mass of a star that can produce a white dwarf (WD) is an important astrophysical quantity. One of the best approaches to establishing this limit is to search for WDs in young star clusters in which only massive stars have had…
Rotation and magnetism are increasingly recognized as important phenomena in stellar evolution. Surface magnetic fields from a few to $20{,}000\,$G have been observed and models have suggested that magnetohydrodynamic transport of angular…
Stellar triples with massive stellar components are common, and can lead to sequential binary black-hole mergers. Here, we outline the evolution towards these sequential mergers, and explore these events in the context of gravitational-wave…
Our improving understanding of the life cycle of planetary systems prompts investigations of the role of the Galactic environment before, during and after Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stellar evolution. Here, we investigate the interplay…
Over the last decades, numerous wide (>1000 AU) binaries have been discovered in the Galactic field and halo. The origin of these wide binaries cannot be explained by star formation or by dynamical interactions in the Galactic field. We…
Metal pollution in white dwarf atmospheres is likely to be a signature of remnant planetary systems. Most explanations for this pollution predict a sharp decrease in the number of polluted systems with white dwarf cooling age. Observations…
It has long been accepted that a possible mechanism for explaining the existence of magnetic white dwarfs is the merger of a binary white dwarf system, as there are viable mechanisms for producing sustainable magnetism within the merger…
White dwarf stars are the final stage of most stars, born single or in multiple systems. We discuss the identification, magnetic fields, and mass distribution for white dwarfs detected from spectra obtained by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey…
Current gravitational wave detectors are sensitive to coalescing black holes and neutron stars. However, double white dwarfs (DWDs) have long been recognized as promising sources of gravitational waves, and upcoming detectors like LISA will…
We examine the statistics of main-sequence / main-sequence, main-sequence / white-dwarf and white-dwarf / white-dwarf wide binaries at 10^2.5-10^4 AU separations in Gaia data. For binaries containing a white dwarf, we find a complex…
We show that the merger and tidal disruption of a C/O white dwarf (WD) by a neutron star (NS) binary companion provides a natural formation scenario for the PSR B1257+12 planetary system. Starting with initial conditions for the debris disk…
Close white dwarf binaries make up a wide variety of objects such as double white dwarf binaries, which are possible SN Ia progenitors, cataclysmic variables, super soft sources, or AM CVn stars. The evolution and formation of close white…
Binary star systems containing a neutron star or a black hole with an evolved, massive star are dynamically perturbed when the latter undergoes a supernova explosion. It is possible that the natal kick received by the newly-formed neutron…