Related papers: $\phi$-Dwarfs: White Dwarfs probe Quadratically Co…
The detection of dark matter is a challenging problem in modern physics. The ultralight scalar and axion dark matter could induce the oscillation of the nuclear charge radii and then oscillate the atomic transition frequency by interacting…
It is possible to reliably identify white dwarfs (WDs) without recourse to spectra, instead using photometric and astrometric measurements to distinguish them from Main Sequence stars and quasars. WDs' colours can also be used to infer…
Wide-field time-domain photometric sky surveys are now finding hundreds of eclipsing white dwarf plus M dwarf binaries, a population encompassing a wealth of information and potential insight into white dwarf and close binary astrophysics.…
Magnitude-limited samples have shown that 20-25 per cent of cataclysmic variables contain white dwarfs with magnetic fields of Mega Gauss strength, in stark contrast to the approximately 5 per cent of single white dwarfs with similar…
A significant fraction of white dwarfs, the degenerate remnants of low- and intermediate-mass stars, host strong magnetic fields; yet, the origin and evolution of these magnetic fields remain poorly understood. Building a large,…
We present the results of a deep-imaging search for wide companions to low-mass stars and brown dwarfs using NSFCam on IRTF. We searched a sample of 132 M7-L8 dwarfs to magnitude limits of $J \sim 20.5$ and $K \sim 18.5$, corresponding to…
The white dwarf mass-radius relationship is fundamental to modern astrophysics. It is central to routine estimation of DA white dwarf masses derived from spectroscopic temperatures and gravities. It is also the basis for observational…
Seven ultra low-mass and small-radius white dwarfs (LSPM J0815+1633, LP 240-30, BD+20 5125B, LP 462-12, WD J1257+5428, 2MASS J13453297+4200437, and SDSS J085557.46+053524.5) have been recently identified with masses ranging from $\sim$0.02…
In a large class of scalar-tensor theories that are potential candidates for dark energy, a nonminimal coupling between the scalar and the photon is possible. The presence of such an interaction grants us the exciting prospect of directly…
In chameleon field theories a scalar field can couple to matter with gravitational strength and still evade local gravity constraints due to a combination of self-interactions and the couplings to matter. Originally, these theories were…
White dwarf planetary science is a rapidly growing field of research featuring a diverse set of observations and theoretical explorations. Giant planets, minor planets, and debris discs have all been detected orbiting white dwarfs. The…
We report on an undergraduate student project initiated in the summer semester of 2004 with the aim to establish equations of state for white dwarfs and neutron stars for computing mass-radius relations as well as corresponding maximum…
We study scaling symmetry in a class of non-minimally coupled scalar field in a background of Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) spacetime. We use a non-minimally coupling $R L^{(\varphi)}$. We find the corresponding conserved charge of that…
We have carried out a re-analysis of polarimetric data of central stars of planetary nebulae, hot subdwarfs, and white dwarfs taken with FORS1 (FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph) on the VLT (Very Large Telescope), and added a…
In this work we study a scalar field dark matter model with mass of the order of 100 MeV. We assume dark matter is produced in the process $e^-+e^+\to \phi +\phi^*+\gamma$, that, in fact, could be a background for the standard process…
In this thesis, we investigate various possibilities of Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) dark matter (DM) and their implications. These possibilities are important because they challenge the viability of WIMP DM in light of tight…
We describe radial velocity observations of a large sample of apparently single white dwarfs (WDs), obtained in a long-term effort to discover close, double-degenerate (DD) pairs which might comprise viable Type Ia Supernova (SN Ia)…
Over the past several years, there has been enormous interest in massive neutron stars and white dwarfs due to either their direct or indirect evidence. The recent detection of gravitational wave event GW190814 has confirmed the existence…
White dwarfs, the final evolutionary stage of the vast majority of stars, serve as critical tools for cosmochronology, studies of planetary system evolution, and laboratories for non-standard physics, including exotic cooling channels and…
Recently, there are two hints arising from physics beyond the standard model. One is a possible energy loss mechanism due to emission of very weakly interacting light particles from white dwarf stars, with a coupling strength ~…