Related papers: Fluid Mixing during Phase Separation in Crystalliz…

Approximately $0.2 \pm 0.2$ of white dwarfs (WDs) show signs of pollution by metals, which is likely due to the accretion of tidally disrupted planetary material. Models invoking planet-planet interactions after WD formation generally…

A non negligible fraction of white dwarf stars show the presence of heavy elements in their atmospheres. The most accepted explanation for this contamination is the accretion of material coming from tidally disrupted planetesimals, which…

There are currently two open questions in white dwarf physics: why are massive dwarfs observed less often in astronomical surveys, and why have not any super-Chandrasekhar white dwarfs been found despite the discovery of more than a dozen…

The variation of an ionizing flux as a mechanism to stimulate the condensation of a diffuse gas is considered. To illustrate this effect, two situations are examined: one on the context of pregalactic conditions, and the other on the…

We present a large parameter study where we investigate the structure of white dwarf (WD) merger remnants after the dynamical phase. A wide range of WD masses and compositions are explored and we also probe the effect of different initial…

Thermohaline mixing has recently been proposed to occur in low-mass red giants, with large consequence for the chemical yields of low-mass stars. We investigate the role of thermohaline mixing during the evolution of stars between 1Msun and…

We present simulation results addressing the dynamics of a colloidal system with attractive interactions close to gelation. Our interaction also has a soft, long range repulsive barrier which suppresses liquid-gas type phase separation at…

The interpretation of microlensing results towards the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) still remains controversial. White dwarfs have been proposed to explain these results and, hence, to contribute significantly to the mass budget of our…

In our galaxy, white dwarfs inevitably undergo scattering and capture processes with the interstellar diffuse dark matter. The captured dark matter forms a dark halo that eventually evaporates or annihilates. Theoretical pulsation modes and…

We systematically explore the evolution of the merger of two carbon-oxygen (CO) white dwarfs. The dynamical evolution of a 0.9 Msun + 0.6 Msun CO white dwarf merger is followed by a three-dimensional SPH simulation. We use an elaborate…

The dynamics of first order phase transitions are studied in the context of (3+1)-dimensional scalar field theories. Particular attention is paid to the question of quantifying the strength of the transition, and how `weak' and `strong'…

We explore the physics of crystallization in the deep interiors of white dwarf stars using the color-magnitude diagram and luminosity function constructed from proper motion cleaned Hubble Space Telescope photometry of the globular cluster…

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…

We present a Monte Carlo simulation designed to predict the vertical velocity dispersion of brown dwarfs in the Milky Way. We show that since these stars are constantly cooling, the velocity dispersion has a noticeable trend with spectral…

Context. Recent observations have shown that magnetic flux cancellation occurs at the photosphere more frequently than previously thought. Aims. In order to understand the energy release by reconnection driven by flux cancellation, we…

We report two phenomena, induced by dynamical correlations, that occur during the free cooling of a two-dimensional mixture of inelastic hard disks. First, we show that, due to the onset of velocity correlations, the ratio of the kinetic…

Prior to the explosion of a carbon-oxygen white dwarf in a Type Ia supernova there is a long "simmering," during which the 12C + 12C reaction gradually heats the white dwarf on a long (~ 1000 yr) timescale. Piro & Bildsten showed that weak…

The shape of the luminosity function of white dwarfs (WDLF) is sensitive to the characteristic cooling time and, therefore, it can be used to test the existence of additional sources or sinks of energy such as those predicted by alternative…

Merger of a white dwarf binary creates a differentially rotating object which is expected to generate strong magnetic fields. Kinetic energy stored in differential rotation is partially dissipated in the magnetically dominated corona, which…

As they evolve, white dwarfs undergo major changes in surface composition, a phenomenon known as spectral evolution. In particular, some stars enter the cooling sequence with helium atmospheres (type DO) but eventually develop hydrogen…