Related papers: Some Thoughts on the Convective Urca Process
The thermonuclear runaway that culminates in the explosion of a Chandrasekhar mass white dwarf as a Type Ia supernova begins centuries before the star actually explodes. Here, using a 3D anelastic code, we examine numerically the convective…
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…
We discuss some of our current knowledge of the mass distribution of DA and non-DA stars using various methods for measuring white dwarf masses including spectroscopic, trigonometric parallax, and gravitational redshift measurements, with a…
We study the weak interaction processes taking place within a combustion flame that converts dense hadronic matter into quark matter in a compact star. Using the Boltzmann equation we follow the evolution of a small element of just…
Convective boundary mixing (CBM) in the advanced evolutionary stages of massive stars is not well understood. Structural changes caused by convection have an impact on the evolution as well as the subsequent supernova, or lack thereof. The…
(abbreviated) The evolution of intermediate mass stars at very low metallicity during their final thermal pulse asymptotic giant branch phase is studied in detail. As representative examples models with initial masses of 4Msun and 5Msun…
The convective overshoot mixing plays an important role in stellar structure and evolution. However, the overshoot mixing is a long standing problem. The uncertainty of the overshoot mixing is one of the most uncertain factors in stellar…
With the successful launch of Chandra and XMM/Newton X-ray space missions combined with the lower-energy band observations, time has arrived when careful comparison of thermal evolution theories of isolated neutron stars with observations…
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 population of compact binaries in dense stellar systems is affected strongly by frequent dynamical interactions between stars and their interplay with the stellar evolution. In this contribution, we consider these effects on binaries…
Convection and turbulence in stellar atmospheres have a significant effect on the emergent flux from A-type stars. The recent theoretical advancements in convection modelling have proved a challenge to the observers to obtain measurements…
Even today in our Galaxy, stars form from gas cores in a variety of environments, which may affect the properties of resulting star and planetary systems. Here we study the role of pressure, parameterized via ambient clump mass surface…
Recent models of galactic chemical evolution account for updated evolutionary models of massive stars (with special emphasis on stellar winds) and for the effects of intermediate mass and massive binaries. The results are summarised. We…
Depending on mass and metallicity as well as evolutionary phase, stars occasionally experience convective-reactive nucleosynthesis episodes. We specifically investigate the situation when nucleosynthetically unprocessed, H-rich material is…
Carbon stars (with C/O> 1) were long assumed to all be giants, because only AGB stars dredge up significant carbon into their atmospheres. The case is nearly iron-clad now that the formerly mysterious dwarf carbon (dC) stars are actually…
We investigate heat transport associated with compositionally-driven convection driven by crystallization at the ocean-crust interface in accreting neutron stars, or growth of the solid core in cooling white dwarfs. We study the effect of…
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…
Observations of heavy metal pollution in white dwarf stars indicate that metal-rich planetesimals are frequently scattered into star-grazing orbits, tidally disrupted, and accreted onto the white dwarf surface, offering direct insight into…
Following unstable ignition of carbon, but prior to explosion, a white dwarf (WD) in a Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) undergoes a simmering phase. During this time, a central convective region grows and encompasses ~1 Msun of the WD over a…
The explosion of a type Ia supernova starts in a white dwarf as a laminar deflagration at the center of the star and soon several hydrodynamic instabilities, in particular, the Rayleigh-Taylor instability, begin to act. A cellular…