Related papers: The White Dwarf Deficit in Open Clusters: Dynamica…
Observed mass-to-light ratios (M/L) of metal-rich globular clusters (GCs) disagree with theoretical predictions. This discrepancy is of fundamental importance since stellar population models provide the stellar masses that underpin most of…
We highlight the impact of cluster-mass-dependent evolutionary rates upon the evolution of the cluster mass function during violent relaxation, that is, while clusters dynamically respond to the expulsion of their residual star-forming gas.…
Numerical simulations suggest that merging double white dwarfs (WDs) may produce a newborn neutron star surrounded by a fossil disk. We investigate the evolution of the fossil disk following the coalescence of double WDs. We demonstrate…
Stars in globular clusters (GCs) exhibit a peculiar chemical pattern with strong abundance variations in light elements along with a constant abundance in heavy elements. These abundance anomalies can be explained by a primordial pollution…
White dwarfs (WDs) represent the final evolutionary stage of most stars, typically originating from progenitor stars with masses below approximately 8 $M_{\odot}$ to 10 $M_{\odot}$. Formation through single-star evolution generally requires…
We present the stellar and substellar mass function of the open cluster IC2391, plus its radial dependence, and use this to put constraints on the formation mechanism of brown dwarfs. Our multiband optical and infrared photometric survey…
We present a new model for the Galactic population of close double white dwarfs. The model accounts for the suggestion of the avoidance of a substantial spiral-in during mass transfer between a giant and a main-sequence star of comparable…
The evolution of white dwarfs is a cooling process that depends on the energy stored in the core and on the way in which it is transferred through the envelope. In this paper we show that despite some (erroneous) claims, the redistribution…
We show that a star orbiting close enough to an adiabatically grown supermassive black hole can capture a large number of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) during its lifetime. WIMP annihilation energy release in low- to…
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…
Previous investigations have revealed that eccentric super-Earths represent a class of planets which are particularly effective at transporting minor bodies towards white dwarfs and subsequently polluting their atmospheres with observable…
We make predictions for the rate of discovery of eclipsing white dwarf-main sequence (WD-MS) binaries in terrestrial-planet transit searches, taking the planned Kepler and Eddington missions as examples. We use a population synthesis model…
Pulsating white dwarfs provide constraints to the evolution of progenitor stars. We revise He-burning stellar models, with particular attention to core convection and to its connection with the nuclear reactions powering energy generation…
Planets and other low-mass binary companions to stars face a variety of potential fates as their host stars move off the main sequence and grow to subgiants and giants. Stellar mass loss tends to make orbits expand, and tidal torques tend…
If the winds of an asymptotic-giant-branch stars are sufficiently strong are slightly asymmetric, they can alter the star's trajectory through a globular cluster; therefore, if these winds are asymmetric, one would expect young white dwarfs…
Recent surveys of close white dwarf binaries as well as single white dwarfs have provided evidence for the late appearance of magnetic fields in white dwarfs, and a possible generation mechanism a crystallization and rotation-driven dynamo…
We present a calculation of protostellar disk formation and evolution in which gaseous clumps (essentially, the first Larson cores formed via disk fragmentation) are ejected from the disk during the early stage of evolution. This is a…
I explore the current ability of both white dwarf cooling theory and main sequence stellar evolution theory to accurately determine stellar population ages by comparing ages derived using both techniques for open clusters ranging from 0.1…
Recent observations of the low-mass rotation distributions of the Pleiades and Praesepe clusters have revealed a ubiquitous correlation between mass and rotation, such that late M dwarfs rotate an order-of-magnitude faster than early M…
Close binary systems are the progenitors to both Type Ia supernovae and the compact object mergers that can be detected via gravitational waves. To achieve a binary with a small radial separation, it is believed that the system likely…