Related papers: Slow convection and fast rotation in crystallizati…
Wickramasinghe et al. (2014) and Briggs et al. (2015) have proposed that the strong magnetic fields observed in some single white dwarfs (MWDs) are formed by a dynamo driven by differential rotation when two stars, the more massive one with…
Meridional flow results from slight deviations from the thermal wind balance. The deviations are relatively large in the boundary layers near the top and bottom of the convection zone. Accordingly, the meridional flow attains its largest…
Convectively driven dynamos with rotation generating magnetic fields on scales large compared with the scale of the turbulent eddies are being reviewed. It is argued that such fields can be understood as the result of an alpha effect.…
We develop a model based on 3D mean-field MHD for the generation of large scale magnetic fields in fully convective objects like low-mass stars, brown dwarfs and possibly gaseous planets. The dynamo process is of alpha^2 type and thus…
Inner core translation, with solidification on one hemisphere and melting on the other, provides a promising basis for understanding the hemispherical dichotomy of the inner core, as well as the anomalous stable layer observed at the base…
Circular polarisation measurements of white dwarfs of various ages and spectral types are useful to understand the origin and evolution of the magnetic field in degenerate stars. In the latest stages of white dwarf evolution, when stars are…
The importance of the existence of a radiative core in generating a solar-like magnetic dynamo is still unclear. Analytic models and magnetohydrodynamic simulations of stars suggest the thin layer between a star's radiative core and its…
Accretion-driven spin-up of a magnetized white dwarf in a close binary system is discussed. We address a situation in which the magnetic field of the white dwarf is screening during the accretion phase and re-generating due to the field…
We investigate the luminosity and cooling of highly magnetized white dwarfs where cooling occurs by the diffusion of photons. We solve the magnetostatic equilibrium and photon diffusion equations to obtain the temperature and density…
Numerical and observational evidence suggests that massive white dwarfs dominate the innermost regions of core-collapsed globular clusters by both number and total mass. Using NGC 6397 as a test case, we constrain the features of white…
Convective flow in Earth's iron-rich liquid core drives self-sustained dynamo action, generating Earth's magnetic field, which is strongest among all terrestrial planets of the solar system. Rock records show that this magnetic field has…
The timing of formation for the first planetesimals determines the mode of planetary accretion and their geophysical and compositional evolution. Astronomical observations of circumstellar discs and Solar System geochronology provide…
It was recently proposed that metal-rich white dwarfs (WDs) accrete their metals from compact debris disks found to exist around more than a dozen of them. At the same time, elemental abundances measured in atmospheres of some WDs imply…
In the seconds following their formation in core-collapse supernovae, "proto"-magnetars drive neutrino-heated magneto-centrifugal winds. Using a suite of two-dimensional axisymmetric MHD simulations, we show that relatively slowly rotating…
M-dwarf stars are well known for the intense magnetic activity that many of them exhibit. In cool stars with near-surface convection zones, this magnetic activity is thought to be driven largely by the interplay of convection and the large…
Context. About 25% -- 50% of white dwarfs are found to be contaminated by heavy elements, which are believed to originate from external sources such as planetary materials. Elemental abundances suggest that most of the pollutants are rocky…
While brown dwarfs show similarities with stars in their early life, their spin evolution is much more akin to that of planets. We have used lightcurves from the K2 mission to measure new rotation periods for 18 young brown dwarfs in the…
Stellar mergers are one important path to highly magnetised stars. Mergers of two low-mass white dwarfs may create up to every third hot subdwarf star. The merging process is usually assumed to dramatically amplify magnetic fields. However,…
Over 1500 DBZ or DZ white dwarfs (WDs) have been observed so far, and polluted atmospheres with metal elements have been found among these WDs. The surface heavy element abundances of known DBZ or DZ WDs show an evolutionary sequence. By…
Convection is one of the most important mixing processes in stellar interiors. Hydrodynamic mass entrainment can bring fresh fuel from neighboring stable layers into a convection zone, modifying the structure and evolution of the star.…