Related papers: White dwarf fundamentals
We investigate the evolution of isolated, zero and finite temperature, massive, uniformly rotating and highly magnetized white dwarf stars under angular momentum loss driven by magnetic dipole braking. We consider the structure and thermal…
In this introductory chapter of the Special Issue entitled `The Structure and Evolution of Stars', we highlight the recent major progress made in our understanding in the physics that governs stellar interiors. In so doing, we combine…
A significant fraction of white dwarfs possess a magnetic field with strengths ranging from a few kG up to about 1000 MG. However, the incidence of magnetism varies when the white dwarf population is broken down into different spectral…
Studies of the resolved stellar populations in nearby systems are crucial to understand galaxy evolution. Here, we summarize how the interpretation of the colour-magnitude diagrams of field stars in late-type dwarfs inside and outside the…
Motivated by the recent detection of single and binary He-core white dwarfs in metal-rich clusters, we present a full set of evolutionary calculations and colors appropriate for the study of such white dwarfs. The paper is also aimed at…
Properties of nearby dwarf galaxies are briefly discussed. Dwarf galaxies vary widely in their star formation histories, the ages of their subpopulations, and in their enrichment history. Furthermore, many dwarf galaxies show evidence for…
During the final evolution of most stars, they shed their outer skin and expose their core of the hot ashes of nuclear burning. As these hot and very dense cores cool into white dwarf stars, they go through episodes of multiperiodic,…
The prediction of the spins of the compact remnants is a fundamental goal of the theory of stellar evolution. Here, we confront the predictions for white dwarf spins from evolutionary models including rotation with observational…
The detection of brown dwarfs in globular star clusters will allow us to break the degeneracies in age, mass and composition that affect our current models, and therefore to constrain the physics of their atmospheres and interiors.…
A number of so-called ultra-cool white dwarfs have been detected in different surveys so far. However, based on anecdotal evidence it is believed that most or all of these ultra-cool white dwarfs are low-mass products of binary evolution…
We discuss the recent discovery by Oppenheimer et al (2001) of old, cool white dwarf stars, which may be the first direct detection of Galactic halo dark matter. We argue here that the contribution of more mundane white dwarfs of the…
Recent progress in our knowledge of stellar populations in local dwarf spheroidal galaxies is briefly discussed. A few results are summarized including wide field observations of stellar populations and their spatial variations, studies of…
A popular interpretation of recent microlensing studies of the line of sight towards the Large Magellanic Cloud invokes a population of old white dwarf stars in the Galactic halo. Below I review the basic properties of old white dwarf stars…
The article covers the physical properties and evolution of single white dwarfs ranging in temperature from 20,000K to 200,000 and higher, the hottest know electron-degenerate stars. After discussing the classification of their spectra, the…
As a star evolves off the Main Sequence, it endures major structural changes that are capable of determining the fate of the planets orbiting it. Throughout its evolution along the Red Giant Branch, the star increases its radius by two…
White dwarfs are the remnants of low and intermediate mass stars. Because of electron degeneracy, their evolution is just a simple gravothermal process of cooling. Recently, thanks to Gaia data, it has been possible to construct the…
We suggest that Jovian planets will survive the late stages of stellar evolution, and that white dwarfs will retain planetary systems in wide orbits (>5AU). Utilising evolutionary models for Jovian planets, we show that infra-red imaging…
White dwarfs are almost completely degenerate objects that cannot obtain energy from the thermonuclear sources and their evolution is just a gravothermal process of cooling. The simplicity of these objects, the fact that the physical inputs…
Oppenheimer et al. (2001) have argued recently that at least 2% of the Galactic halo is comprised of white dwarfs If true, this finding has crucial implications for understanding the formation and evolution of the Milky Way. We draw…
Some aspects of the chemical evolution of late-type dwarf galaxies are reviewed, together with their implications on three issues of cosmological relevance: similarity to primeval galaxies, derivation of the primordial helium abundance,…