Related papers: Slow convection and fast rotation in crystallizati…
The origin of large magnetic fields ($\gtrsim 10^6~\mathrm{G}$) in isolated white dwarfs is not clear. One possible explanation is that crystallization of the star's core drives compositional convection, which when combined with the star's…
When the effective temperature of a cooling white dwarf $T_{\rm eff}$ drops below the ionization limit, it develops a surface convection zone that may generate a magnetic field $B$ through one of several dynamo mechanisms. We revisit this…
Recent surveys of close white dwarf binaries as well as single white dwarfs have provided evidence for the late appearance of magnetic fields in white dwarfs, and a possible generation mechanism a crystallization and rotation-driven dynamo…
We investigate crystallization-driven convection in carbon-oxygen white dwarfs. We present a version of the mixing length theory (MLT) that self-consistently includes the effects of thermal diffusion and composition gradients, and provides…
A convective dynamo operating during the crystallization of white dwarfs is one of the promising channels to produce their observed strong magnetic fields. Although the magnitude of the fields generated by crystallization dynamos is…
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 investigate the evolution of magnetic fields generated by the crystallization-driven dynamo in carbon-oxygen white dwarfs (WDs) with masses $\lesssim1.05\ M_{\odot}$. We use scalings for the dynamo to demonstrate that the initial…
The magnetism and rotation of white dwarf (WD) stars are investigated in relation to a hydromagnetic dynamo operating in the progenitor during shell burning phases. The downward pumping of angular momentum in the convective envelope, in…
Sufficiently old white dwarfs cool down through a convective envelope that directly couples their degenerate cores to the surface. Magnetic fields may inhibit this convection by stiffening the criterion for convective instability. We…
Many magnetic white dwarfs exhibit a polarised spectrum that periodically varies as the star rotates because the magnetic field is not symmetric about the rotation axis. In this work, we report the discovery that while weakly magnetic white…
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…
The presence of a strong magnetic field is a feature common to a significant fraction of degenerate stars, yet little is understood about field origin and evolution. New observational constraints from volume-limited surveys point to a more…
The origin of strong magnetic fields in white dwarfs has been a puzzle for decades. Recently, a dynamo mechanism operating in rapidly rotating and crystallizing white dwarfs has been suggested to explain the occurrence rates of strong…
Ultramassive white dwarfs with masses $M\gtrsim 1.1\,{\rm M}_\odot$ probe extreme physics near the Chandrasekhar limit. Despite the rapid increase in observations, it is still unclear how many harbour carbon-oxygen (CO) versus oxygen-neon…
The general prediction that more than half of all CVs have evolved past the period minimum is in strong disagreement with observational surveys, which show that the relative number of these objects is just a few per cent. Here, we…
We present the first radiation magnetohydrodynamics simulations of the atmosphere of white dwarf stars. We demonstrate that convective energy transfer is seriously impeded by magnetic fields when the plasma-beta parameter, the thermal to…
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 magnetic fields within the…
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 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…
Early-type stars have convective cores due to a steep temperature gradient produced by the CNO cycle. These cores can host dynamos, and the generated magnetic fields can be relevant to explain the magnetism observed in Ap/Bp stars. Our main…