Can we reveal the core-chemical composition of ultra-massive white dwarfs through their magnetic fields?
Ultra-massive white dwarfs (1.05M¿ . MWD) are particularly interesting objects that allow us to study extreme astrophysical phenomena such as type Ia supernovae explosions and merger events. Traditionally, ultra-massive white dwarfs are thought to harbour oxygen-neon (ONe) cores. However, recent the...
| Autores: | , , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2022 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/386067 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/386067 https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slac078 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | White dwarf stars Stars -- Magnetic fields Stars -- interiors Stars -- magnetic fields White dwarfs Estels nans Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Física::Astronomia i astrofísica |
| Sumario: | Ultra-massive white dwarfs (1.05M¿ . MWD) are particularly interesting objects that allow us to study extreme astrophysical phenomena such as type Ia supernovae explosions and merger events. Traditionally, ultra-massive white dwarfs are thought to harbour oxygen-neon (ONe) cores. However, recent theoretical studies and new observations suggest that some ultra-massive white dwarfs could harbour carbon-oxygen (CO) cores. Although several studies have attempted to elucidate the core composition of ultra-massive white dwarfs, to date, it has not been possible to distinguish them through their observed properties. Here, we present a new method for revealing the core-chemical composition in ultra-massive white dwarfs that is based on the study of magnetic fields generated by convective mixing induced by the crystallization process. ONe white dwarfs crystallize at higher luminosities than their CO counterparts. Therefore, the study of magnetic ultra-massive white dwarfs in the particular domain where ONe cores have reached the crystallization conditions but CO cores have not, may provide valuable support to their ONe core-chemical composition, since ONe white dwarfs would display signs of magnetic fields and CO would not. We apply our method to eight white dwarfs with magnetic field measurements and we suggest that these stars are candidate ONe white dwarfs. |
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