Related papers: Asynchronous accretion can mimic diverse white dwa…
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…
The current picture painted by the observations of circumstellar dust at white dwarfs, and the consequent atmospheric pollution, is of a surviving planetary system. This chapter recounts in detail both the discovery and empirical…
Accretion-induced collapse (AIC) or merger-induced collapse (MIC) of white dwarfs (WDs) in binary systems is an interesting path to neutron star (NS) and magnetar formation, alternative to stellar core collapse and NS mergers. Such events…
Recent detection of exoplanets with Earth-like insolation attracts growing interest in how common Earth-like aqua planets are beyond the solar system. While terrestrial planets are often assumed to capture icy or water-rich planetesimals, a…
We present a series of systematic abundance measurements for 89 hydrogen atmosphere (DA-type) white dwarfs with temperatures spanning 16000-77000K drawn from the FUSE spectral archive. This is the largest study to date of white dwarfs where…
We systematically investigate the mergers of neutron star-white dwarf binaries from beginning to end, with focus on the properties of the inflows and outflows in accretion disks and their electromagnetic emissions. Using population…
The accretion of tidally disrupted planetary bodies is the current consensus model for the presence of photospheric metals commonly detected in white dwarfs. While most dynamical studies have considered a single star and associated…
Over the last decade {\it ab initio} modeling of material properties has become widespread in diverse fields of research. It has proved to be a powerful tool for predicting various properties of matter under extreme conditions. We apply…
We examine the properties of white dwarfs (WDs) accreting hydrogen-rich matter in and near the stable burning regime of accretion rates as modeled by time-dependent calculations done with Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics…
White dwarfs stars are known to be polluted by their active planetary systems, but little attention has been paid to the accretion of wind from low-mass companions. The capture of stellar or substellar wind by white dwarfs is one of few…
Volatile molecules containing hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen are key components of planetary atmospheres. In the pebble accretion model for rocky planet formation, these volatile species are accreted during the main planetary formation…
Observations of atmospheres of polluted white dwarfs provide insights into the elemental composition of accreted exoplanets and exo-asteroids. However, they poorly constrain the abundance of ice-forming volatile elements due to the…
Many of the Milky Way's globular clusters are likely accreted from satellite galaxies that have long since merged with the Milky Way. When these globular clusters are susceptible to tidal disruption, this process likely starts already…
The merger of compact binaries, especially black holes and neutron stars, is frequently invoked to explain gamma-ray bursts (GRB's). In this paper, we present three dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of the relatively neglected mergers…
We study mass ejection from accretion disks formed in the merger of a white dwarf with a neutron star or black hole. These disks are mostly radiatively-inefficient and support nuclear fusion reactions, with ensuing outflows and…
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…
Hydrogen atmosphere white dwarfs with metals, so-called DAZs, require external accretion of material to explain the presence of weak metal line absorption in their photospheres. The source of this material is currently uknown, but could…
Volume complete sky surveys provide evidence for a binary origin for the formation of isolated white dwarfs with magnetic fields in excess of a MegaGauss. Interestingly, not a single high-field magnetic white dwarf has been found in a…
Mass transfer from an evolved donor star to its binary companion is a standard feature of stellar evolution in binaries. In wide binaries, the companion star captures some of the mass ejected in a wind by the primary star. The captured…
We present a brief summary of the Single Degenerate Scenario for the progenitors of Type Ia Supernovae in which it is assumed that a low mass carbon-oxygen white dwarf is growing in mass as a result of accretion from a secondary star in a…