scholarly journals A BINARY SCENARIO FOR THE FORMATION OF STRONGLY MAGNETIZED WHITE DWARFS

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (supp02) ◽  
pp. 29-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
JASON NORDHAUS

Since their initial discovery, the origin of isolated white dwarfs (WDs) with magnetic fields in excess of ~1 MG has remained a mystery. Recently, the formation of these high-field magnetic WDs has been observationally linked to strong binary interactions incurred during post-main-sequence evolution. Planetary, brown dwarf or stellar companions located within a few AU of main-sequence stars may become engulfed during the primary's expansion off the main sequence. Sufficiently low-mass companions in-spiral inside a common envelope until they are tidally shredded near the natal white dwarf. Formation of an accretion disk from the disrupted companion provides a source of turbulence and shear which act to amplify magnetic fields and transport them to the WD surface. We show that these disk-generated fields explain the observed range of magnetic field strengths for isolated, high-field magnetic WDs. Additionally, we discuss a high-mass binary analogue which generates a strongly-magnetized WD core inside a pre-collapse, massive star. Subsequent core-collapse to a neutron star may produce a magnetar.

1992 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 643-645
Author(s):  
G. Fontaine ◽  
F. Wesemael

AbstractIt is generally believed that the immediate progenitors of most white dwarfs are nuclei of planetary nebulae, themselves the products of intermediate- and low-mass main sequence evolution. Stars that begin their lifes with masses less than about 7-8 M⊙ (i.e., the vast majority of them) are expected to become white dwarfs. Among those which have already had the time to become white dwarfs since the formation of the Galaxy, a majority have burnt hydrogen and helium in their interiors. Consequently, most of the mass of a typical white dwarf is contained in a core made of the products of helium burning, mostly carbon and oxygen. The exact proportions of C and 0 are unknown because of uncertainties in the nuclear rates of helium burning.


2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (S243) ◽  
pp. 231-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérôme Bouvier

AbstractStar-disk interaction is thought to drive the angular momentum evolution of young stars. In this review, I present the latest results obtained on the rotational properties of low mass and very low mass pre-main sequence stars. I discuss the evidence for extremely efficient angular momentum removal over the first few Myr of pre-main sequence evolution and describe recent results that support an accretion-driven braking mechanism. Angular momentum evolution models are presented and their implication for accretion disk lifetimes discussed.


1981 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 361-371
Author(s):  
R. Ebert ◽  
H. Zinnecker

AbstractIn this paper we present a fully hydrodynamical treatment of the stationary isothermal accretion problem onto a moving gravitating point mass. The derivation is purely analytical. We find that the accretion rate is more than a factor of 50 higher than the accretion rate derived from the partially non-hydrodynamical treatment by Hoyle and Lyttleton (1939) or Bondi and Hoyle (1944). This result may have some bearing on the evolutionary tracks of young pre-Main Sequence stars still embedded in their parent protocluster cloud. We discuss the work by Federova (1979) who investigated the pre-Main Sequence evolution of degenerate low mass ‘stars’ with strong accretion of protocluster cloud material. We suggest that the stars which lie below the Main Sequence in young clusters could strongly accrete matter at the pre-Main Sequence stage.


1985 ◽  
Vol 87 ◽  
pp. 453-469
Author(s):  
G. Michaud

AbstractIn the absence of mass loss, diffusion leads to underabundances of He in main sequence stars. Because of a very strong observational link with Ap and He weak stars, it has however been suggested that diffusion is the explanation for the He rich stars of the upper main sequence. This requires a mass loss rate of 10−12 Mo yr−1 or slightly lower. The mass loss rate must decrease as Teff increases. Magnetic fields must apparently be involved to reduce the mass loss rate. Since this model predicts that the CNO abundances should be normal in the cooler He rich stars, it leads to a clear observational test. Detailed calculations should be made to confirm the importance of this test. The effects of separation in the wind, the atmosphere and the envelope are discussed to conclude that separation in the atmosphere is likely to be most important. The importance of diffusion for He rich white dwarfs and horizontal branch stars are briefly discussed.


1999 ◽  
Vol 190 ◽  
pp. 366-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Brandner ◽  
Eva K. Grebel ◽  
Hans Zinnecker ◽  
Bernhard Brandl

We present first results of a survey for pre-main-sequence stars in the Magellanic Clouds. Our search concentrated on NGC 346, the most prominent OB association in the Small Magellanic Cloud, and on the 30 Dor starburst cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The identification of the young low- to intermediate-mass stellar population in the SMC and LMC allows us to study whether or not these populations formed simultaneously with high-mass stars, and to what an extent lower metallicity affects the low-mass IMF. We can also evaluate the duration of star formation in a starburst region.


1988 ◽  
Vol 126 ◽  
pp. 665-666
Author(s):  
Hyung Mok Lee

Low mass X-ray sources observed in many globular clusters are usually interpreted as compact binaries with degenerate components (e.g., Hertz and Grindlay 1983). Degenerate stars can exist in globular clusters if the IMF contains a sufficiently large number of high mass stars. Since the main-sequence lifetime is a very steep function of stellar mass, most of degenerate stars can be regarded as primordial. If the typical mass of degenerate stars is higher than that of main-sequence stars, mass segregation makes the core crowded with degenerate stars. Tidally captured binaries between degenerates and main-sequence stars can abundantly form as the core density becomes very high.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Pelisoli ◽  
S. O. Kepler ◽  
Detlev Koester

AbstractEvolved stars with a helium core can be formed by non-conservative mass exchange interaction with a companion or by strong mass loss. Their masses are smaller than 0.5 M⊙. In the database of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), there are several thousand stars which were classified by the pipeline as dwarf O, B and A stars. Considering the lifetimes of these classes on the main sequence, and their distance modulus at the SDSS bright saturation, if these were common main sequence stars, there would be a considerable population of young stars very far from the galactic disk. Their spectra are dominated by Balmer lines which suggest effective temperatures around 8 000-10 000 K. Several thousand have significant proper motions, indicative of distances smaller than 1 kpc. Many show surface gravity in intermediate values between main sequence and white dwarf, 4.75 < log g < 6.5, hence they have been called sdA stars. Their physical nature and evolutionary history remains a puzzle. We propose they are not H-core main sequence stars, but helium core stars and the outcomes of binary evolution. We report the discovery of two new extremely-low mass white dwarfs among the sdAs to support this statement.


2003 ◽  
Vol 341 (3) ◽  
pp. 805-822 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Pozzo ◽  
T. Naylor ◽  
R. D. Jeffries ◽  
J. E. Drew

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S270) ◽  
pp. 57-64
Author(s):  
Ian A. Bonnell ◽  
Rowan J Smith

AbstractThere has been considerable progress in our understanding of how massive stars form but still much confusion as to why they form. Recent work from several sources has shown that the formation of massive stars through disc accretion, possibly aided by gravitational and Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities is a viable mechanism. Stellar mergers, on the other hand, are unlikely to occur in any but the most massive clusters and hence should not be a primary avenue for massive star formation. In contrast to this success, we are still uncertain as to how the mass that forms a massive star is accumulated. there are two possible mechanisms including the collapse of massive prestellar cores and competitive accretion in clusters. At present, there are theoretical and observational question marks as to the existence of high-mass prestellar cores. theoretically, such objects should fragment before they can attain a relaxed, centrally condensed and high-mass state necessary to form massive stars. Numerical simulations including cluster formation, feedback and magnetic fields have not found such objects but instead point to the continued accretion in a cluster potential as the primary mechanism to form high-mass stars. Feedback and magnetic fields act to slow the star formation process and will reduce the efficiencies from a purely dynamical collapse but otherwise appear to not significantly alter the process.


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