Degenerate Dwarf Stars Research Articles

Effect of quantum corrections on the Jeans instability of self-gravitating viscoelastic dusty fluid

In this paper we investigate the effects of quantum correction on the Jeans instability of self-gravitating viscoelastic dusty electron-ion quantum fluids. The massive self-gravitating dust grains are assumed to be strongly coupled and non-degenerate having both viscous and elastic behavior while the inertialess electrons and ions are considered as weakly coupled and Fermi degenerate. The hydrodynamic model is modified and a linear dispersion relation is derived employing the plane wave solutions on the linearized perturbation equations for the considered system. It is observed that the dispersion properties are affected due to the presence of viscoelastic effects and quantum statistical corrections. The modified condition of Jeans instability and expression of critical Jeans wavenumber are obtained. Numerically it is shown that viscoelastic effects, dust plasma frequency and quantum statistical effects all have stabilizing influence on the growth rate of gravitationally Jeans mode. The growth rates are also compared in kinetic and hydrodynamic limits and it is found that decay in the growth of unstable Jeans mode is larger under the kinetic limits than the hydrodynamic limits. The results are discussed for the understanding of formation of dense degenerate dwarf star through gravitational collapsing which is assumed to be strongly coupled dusty quantum fluid where the strongly coupled dust provides inertia and Fermi degenerate electron and ions provide quantum statistical effects.

New dark matter physics: Clues from halo structure

We examine the effect of primordial dark matter velocity dispersion and/or particle self-interactions on the structure and stability of galaxy halos, especially with respect to the formation of substructure and central density cusps. Primordial velocity dispersion is characterized by a ``phase density'' $Q\ensuremath{\equiv}\ensuremath{\rho}/〈{v}^{2}{〉}^{3/2},$ which for relativistically decoupled relics is determined by particle mass and spin and is insensitive to cosmological parameters. Finite Q leads to small-scale filtering of the primordial power spectrum, which reduces substructure, and limits the maximum central density of halos, which eliminates central cusps. The relationship between Q and halo observables is estimated. The primordial Q may be preserved in the cores of halos and if so leads to a predicted relation, closely analogous to that in degenerate dwarf stars, between the central density and velocity dispersion. Classical polytrope solutions are used to model the structure of halos of collisional dark matter, and to show that self-interactions in halos today are probably not significant because they destabilize halo cores via heat conduction. Constraints on masses and self-interactions of dark matter particles are estimated from halo stability and other considerations.

The dark halo of the milky Way

Most of the matter in the Milky Way is invisible to astronomers. Precise numbers are elusive, but it appears that the dark component is 20 times as massive as the visible disk of stars and gas. This dark matter is distributed in space differently than the stars, forming a vast, diffuse halo, more spherical than disklike, which occupies more than 1000 times the volume of the disk of stars. The composition of this dark halo is unknown, but it may comprise a mixture of ancient, degenerate dwarf stars and exotic, hypothetical elementary particles.

On the Evolution of Low‐Mass X‐Ray Binaries under the Influence of a Donor Stellar Wind Induced by X‐Rays from the Accretor

In a low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB), an intense stellar wind from the mass donor may be a consequence of the absorption of X-rays from the mass-accreting neutron star or black hole, and such a wind could change the evolution of these binaries dramatically compared with the evolution of cataclysmic variables (CVs), which are close binaries in which the accretor is a white dwarf. An analytical study and numerical models show that, in the closest and brightest LMXBs, a relativistic companion can capture up to ~10% of the mass lost in the induced stellar wind (ISW) from the main-sequence or subgiant donor, and this is enough to keep the X-ray luminosity of a typical LMXB on the level of LX ~ 5000 L☉ and to accelerate the rotation of an old neutron star with a low magnetic field into the millisecond-period range. A self-sustained ISW may exist even if the donor does not fill its Roche lobe, but the system can be bright (LX > 100 L☉) only if the radius of the donor is a substantial fraction ( 0.8) of the Roche lobe radius. A lower limit on the Roche lobe filling factor follows from the circumstance that both the rate Ėwind at which work must be done to lift wind matter off the donor and the rate Ėabs at which the donor absorbs X-ray energy are proportional to ISW (the ISW mass-loss rate) and from the requirement that Ėwind 3 hr. In Algol-like LMXBs in the Galactic disk, the timescale for the evaporation (caused by the ISW) of the donor with a low-mass, degenerate helium core can be smaller than the timescale for the radial expansion of the donor owing to nuclear evolution, and the donor may never fill its Roche lobe. However, if progenitor binaries are initially wide enough, the donor may escape evaporation as a main-sequence star, and significant mass transfer may not occur until the secondary evolves into a giant with a degenerate helium core of large mass and fills its Roche lobe. In globular clusters, as a result of capture and exchange reactions, semidetached Algol-like LMXBs can be formed in which the donor can fill its Roche lobe even when its degenerate helium core is of small mass, and Roche lobe mediated mass transfer driven by the nuclear evolution of the donor can dominate over capture from the ISW. The numerical models formally imply the possible presence in the Galaxy of ~104 dim (LX ~ 1-100 L☉), long-period LMXBs or radio pulsars with low-mass ( ~0.05 M☉) companions. Since there are few, if any, known observational counterparts of these systems, it is necessary to invoke a mechanism or mechanisms to destroy their formal progenitors. Possible destruction mechanisms include: (1) evaporation driven by the radiation from the rapidly rotating pulsar into which the accretor has been transformed by accretion during the bright LMXB phase, and (2) a dynamical instability arising when the donor is almost completely convective and fills its Roche lobe. In the case of dynamical disruption, the donor may be transformed into the envelope of a Thorne-Żytkow (1975) object with a neutron star or black hole core or into a planet-forming disk around the neutron star or black hole. A few short-period (Porb < 3 hr) LMXBs do exist, and, in them, the donor may be a helium white dwarf of mass less than ~0.09 M☉. An ISW operating before the donor fills its Roche lobe may be responsible for reducing the mass of the white dwarf from an initial value of ≥0.13 M☉ to a value of ≤0.09 M☉, thus permitting stable mass exchange (at a rate smaller than the Eddington limiting rate) and evolution to longer periods to occur after the donor fills its Roche lobe. Another scenario relies on the collapse of a massive oxygen-neon white dwarf, which has accreted from a Roche lobe filling helium white dwarf. Problems that must be explored further in order to acquire a better understanding of the evolution of LMXBs include the formation of a corona around an irradiated low-mass main-sequence or degenerate dwarf star, accretion of ISW matter by a neutron star or black hole companion, the effect of an ISW on the MSW, formation of millisecond pulsars, complete evaporation of low-mass donors, disruption by tidal forces of a low-mass main-sequence star or a degenerate dwarf companion into a gas disk around the accretor, and the formation of planetary systems in the disk around neutron stars and or black holes in post-LMXB systems.

White Dwarf Central Stars

Planetary nebula nuclei on lower luminosity, diagonal tracks in the HR Diagrams are degenerate dwarf stars close to their final radii. For several reasons, these stars have until recently been difficult to identify and study. With the advent of new techniques and technologies, both hydrogen–rich and hydrogen–poor atmospheric sequences have been found.

35. Stellar Constitution

This report of Commission 35, as in past reports, consists of some details of only a few selected topics. This is necessary because a survey of the entire field of stellar formation, structure, stability, evolution, pulsation, and explosions for the three year period from mid-1981 to mid-1984 would be excessively long. Our topics here, in order from the most massive stellar classes to the least are: Massive Stars (R.M. Humphreys), Rotation in Late Type Stars (W. Benz), Helioseismology (J. Christensen-Dalsgaard), Planetary Nebula Central Stars (E.M. Sion), Pulsations in Hot Degenerate Dwarf Stars (A.N. Cox and S.D. Kawaler), and White Dwarfs (V. Weidemann). There is some overlap in the reviewing of these last three reports because the topics are very closely related. Concentration in this dying stage of stellar evolution seems appropriate because of the great current interest in these matters.

Localized thermonuclear runaways and volcanoes on degenerate dwarf stars

view Abstract Citations (55) References (30) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS Localized thermonuclear runaways and volcanoes on degenerate dwarf stars Shara, M. M. Abstract A unified thermonuclear-runaway mechanism for dwarf and classical novae is considered that involves thermonuclear-powered 'volcanic' (or localized) eruptions accompanied by hot bright 'lava' flows on the surfaces of white dwarfs in some binary systems. Energy-transport and thermonuclear-runaway time scales in degenerate dwarf envelopes are compared, and it is shown that localized, rather than global, eruptions often occur. The envelope and white dwarf masses that lead to localized thermonuclear runaways (LTNR's) are estimated. LTNR's on neutron stars are briefly considered. Order-of-magnitude estimates are given for the eruption, flow, and shutdown characteristics of a white dwarf LTNR. It is suggested that LTNR's are likely to recur with time scales of weeks or months and that the end product of such evolution might be a Type I supernova. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: October 1982 DOI: 10.1086/160376 Bibcode: 1982ApJ...261..649S Keywords: Dwarf Novae; Neutron Stars; Novae; Stellar Mass Accretion; Thermonuclear Reactions; White Dwarf Stars; Energy Transfer; Stellar Envelopes; Stellar Evolution; Stellar Models; X Ray Sources; Astrophysics full text sources ADS |

Coordinated X-ray, ultraviolet and optical observations of AM Herculis, U Geminorum, and SS Cygni

Simultaneous and quasi-simultaneous optical, UV and X-ray observations of the accreting degenerate dwarf stars AM Herculis, U Geminorum and SS Cygni are reported. The observations were obtained in March 1979, by instruments on board the Einstein Observatory and the IUE satellite, and optical properties were monitored on the ground. AM Her was found to be in a high state at the time of the observations, while SS Cyg and U Gem appeared to be in the optical low state. The presence of a strong UV excess is found in SS Cyg, U Gem and AM Her, which most likely originates from the boundary of the accretion disk in U Gem. The observed excess, with a blackbody component greater than 10 eV, is noted to be inconsistent with standard accretion disk and column models. It is suggested that nuclear burning at the surface of the white dwarf may be responsible for the excess UV flux in the three systems, with differences in spectral distributions resulting from different levels of magnetic field intensity and accretion rate.

Accreting Neutron Stars, Black Holes, and Degenerate Dwarf Stars

During the past 8 years, extended temporal and broadband spectroscopic studies carried out by x-ray astronomical satellites have led to the identification of specific compact x-ray sources as accreting neutron stars, black holes, and degenerate dwarf stars in close binary systems. Such sources provide a unique opportunity to study matter under extreme conditions not accessible in the terrestrial laboratory. Quantitative theoretical models have been developed which demonstrate that detailed studies of these sources will lead to a greatly increased understanding of dense and superdense hadron matter, hadron superfluidity, high-temperature plasma in superstrong magnetic fields, and physical processes in strong gravitational fields. Through a combination of theory and observation such studies will make possible the determination of the mass, radius, magnetic field, and structure of neutron stars and degenerate dwarf stars and the identification of further candidate black holes, and will contribute appreciably to our understanding of the physics of accretion by compact astronomical objects.