Relevance of Dynamical Nuclear Processes in Quantum Complex Systems of Massive White Dwarfs

Abstract

We revisit the properties of relativistic and quantum complex systems of massive white dwarfs (WDs) using a modern equation of state (EoS) which accounts for electron-ion interactions among lattice nuclei, and which makes use of the latest experimental atomic mass data. We estimate the mass density thresholds for the onset of nuclear reactions in the cores of massive WDs and study the impact of microscopic stability on the structure and stability of different WD constitutions. We focus on the properties of massive carbon and oxygen white dwarfs, taking into account the electron capture and pycnonuclear fusion reactions instabilities. Our results indicate that pycnonuclear reactions turn carbon WDs unstable while for oxygen WDs their instability is due to the inverse β −decay (electron capture) process. We highlight that these dynamical nuclear processes are of great relevance for assessment of stability of these quantum complex systems of massive WDs, since they constrain their maximum masses.