Search results for "WHITE DWARF"
showing 10 items of 24 documents
Future axion searches with the International Axion Observatory (IAXO)
2013
Çetin, Serkant Ali (Dogus Author) -- Conference full title: 6th Symposium on Large TPCs for Low Energy Rare Event Detection; Paris; France; 17 December 2012 through 19 December 2012. The International Axion Observatory (IAXO) is a new generation axion helioscope aiming at a sensitivity to the axion-photon coupling of gaγ ∼ few × 10-12 GeV-1, i.e. 1-1.5 orders of magnitude beyond the one achieved by CAST, currently the most sensitive axion helioscope. The main elements of IAXO are an increased magnetic field volume together with extensive use of x-ray focusing optics and low background detectors, innovations already successfully tested in CAST. Additional physics cases of IAXO could include …
A search for diffuse absorption bands in carbon-rich stars -- I. Barium and related stars
2003
The results of a search for interstellar and circumstellar absorption lines in high-resolution optical spectra of seven late-type stars are presented. All these stars are single-lined spectroscopic binaries with unseen companions, presumably white dwarfs. Some residual material indicative of recent mass transfer from an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star might still be associated with the systems. Peculiar energy distribution and the sodium D 1 and D 2 lines give direct evidence about the material in the line of sight in some cases. Absorption features of simple carbon-bearing molecules (C 2 , CN) have been detected in most of the examined stars, confirming a carbon-rich nature of the corre…
Discovery of ten millisecond pulsars in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae
1991
IN the past four years a total of 13 millisecond pulsars have been found in 12 different globular clusters. These pulsars are believed to be old neutron stars that have been spun up ('recycled') in low-mass X-ray binary systems1 although some may have been formed by the accretion-induced collapse of white dwarfs in binaries2. The globular cluster 47 Tucanae has an especially dense core, and is therefore a likely site for millisecond pulsar formation. Using the Parkes radiotelescope, we have now detected ten addi-tional millisecond pulsars in 47 Tuc, more than half of which are members of binary systems. Almost half of the known millisecond pulsars and more than a quarter of the known binary…
The triple-alpha-reaction at low temperatures.
1986
We have studied the triple-α-reaction at low temperatures which is of importance on accreting white dwarfs and neutron stars. Although we have improved a recent investigation of Nomoto, Thielemann and Miyaji on several points, we find a reaction rate for the relevant temperature range (T=107−108K) which is rather similar to the previous result. In particular, our improved study confirms that helium might be ignited on accreting white dwarfs at temperaturesT≦4.107 K.
An abundance analysis of the single-lined spectroscopic binaries with barium stars-like orbital elements
1997
Detailed abundance analyses have been car- ried out for 17 single-lined binaries (giants and dwarfs) with orbital elements and mass functions similar to those of barium stars, using high-dispersion CCD spectra and model atmospheres. All these binary systems contain an unseen low-mass component, presumably, a white dwarf. A mild enhancement (+0:1 0:25 dex) of the averaged s- process elements abundances has been found only for two stars. The heavy-element overabundances in these stars are much less marked than those of the classical barium stars having similar orbital periods. We have concluded that the existence of a white dwarf (WD) companion in binary systems with barium star like characte…
Pressure Shift and Gravitational Red Shift of Balmer Lines in White Dwarfs. Rediscussion
2015
The Stark-induced shift and asymmetry, the so-called pressure shift (PS) of $H_\alpha$ and $H_\beta$ Balmer lines in spectra of DA white dwarfs (WDs), as masking effects in measurements of the gravitational red shift in WDs, have been examined in detail. The results are compared with our earlier ones from before a quarter of a century (Grabowski et al. 1987, hereafter ApJ'87; Madej and Grabowski 1990). In these earlier papers, as a dominant constituent of the Balmer-line-profiles, the standard, symmetrical Stark line profiles, shifted as the whole by PS-effect, were applied to all spectrally active layers of the WD atmosphere. At present, in each of the WD layers, the Stark-line-profiles (e…
Self-Enrichment in Globular Clusters: Is There a Role for the Super-Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars?
2008
In four globular clusters (GCs) a non negligible fraction of stars can be interpreted only as a very helium rich population. The evidence comes from the presence of a "blue" main sequence in $\omega$ Cen and NGC 2808, and from the the very peculiar horizontal branch morphology in NGC 6441 and NGC 6388. Although a general consensus is emerging on the fact that self--enrichment is a common feature among GCs, the helium content required for these stars is Y$\simgt$0.35, and it is difficult to understand how it can be produced without any --or, for $\omega$ Cen, without a considerable--associated metal enhancement. We examine the possible role of super--AGB stars, and show that they may provide…
Gravitational Waves from the Merging of White Dwarfs
2003
Binary white dwarfs emit gravitational waves with frequencies of up to a few mHz. As a consequence of the loss of angular momentum both components gradually approach and the gravitational waves emitted by the system increase both in amplitude and frequency (it is said that they chirp). In fact, the chirp of the galactic white dwarf binary population is expected to be the dominant source of noise at low frequencies. A fraction of these binaries, those separated by a distance smaller than roughly three solar radii, will eventually merge in a time shorter than a Hubble time. It is expected that during the merging they will emit gravitational waves transporting extremely valuable information ab…
Reaction Rates in the RP-Process and Nucleosynthesis in Novae
1986
Nuclear structure information available on proton rich unstable nuclei were used to evaluate thermonuclear reaction rates in the rp-process in explosive hydrogen burning. These rates were applied in a systematic analysis for a variety of temperature conditions, appropriate to nova explosions, to study nucleosynthesis for isotopes of Ne Na Mg Al Si. The results are discussed in comparison with recent observations of elemental abundances in nova ejecta.
Origin of asymmetries in X-ray emission lines from the blast wave of the 2014 outburst of nova V745 Sco
2016
The symbiotic nova V745 Sco was observed in outburst on 2014 February 6. Its observations by the Chandra X-ray Observatory at days 16 and 17 have revealed a spectrum characterized by asymmetric and blue-shifted emission lines. Here we investigate the origin of these asymmetries through three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations describing the outburst during the first 20 days of evolution. The model takes into account thermal conduction and radiative cooling and assumes a blast wave propagates through an equatorial density enhancement. From the simulations, we synthesize the X-ray emission and derive the spectra as they would be observed with Chandra. We find that both the blast wave and th…