Carbon-rich (DQ) white dwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Among the spectroscopically identified white dwarfs, a fraction smaller than 2% have spectra dominated by carbon lines, mainly molecular C2, but also in a smaller group by CI and CII lines. These are together called DQ white dwarfs. We want to derive atmospheric parameters Teff,log g, and carbon abundances for a large sample of these stars and discuss implications for their spectral evolution. Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectra and ugriz photometry were used, together with GAIA Data Release 2 parallaxes and G band photometry. These were fitted to synthetic spectra and theoretical photometry derived from model atmospheres. We found that the DQs hotter than Teff ~10000 K have masses ~0.4 Msun larger than the cooler ones, which have masses typical for the majority of white dwarfs, ~0.6 Msun. A significant fraction of the hotter objects with Teff > 14500 K have atmospheres dominated by carbon.Comment: Accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysic

Probing The Lower Mass Limit For Supernova Progenitors And The High-Mass End Of The Initial-Final Mass Relation From White Dwarfs In The Open Cluster M35 (NGC 2168)

We present a photometric and spectroscopic study of the white dwarf (WD) population of the populous, intermediate-age open cluster M35 (NGC 2168); this study expands upon our previous study of the WDs in this cluster. We spectroscopically confirm 14 WDs in the field of the cluster: 12 DAs, 1 hot DQ, and 1 db star. For each DA, we determine the WD mass and cooling age, from which we derive each star's progenitor mass. These data are then added to the empirical initial-final mass relation (IFMR), where the M35 WDs contribute significantly to the high-mass end of the relation. The resulting points are consistent with previously published linear fits to the IFMR, modulo moderate systematics introduced by the uncertainty in the star cluster age. Based on this cluster alone, the observational lower limit on the maximum mass of WD progenitors is found to be similar to 5.1M(circle dot) - 5.2M(circle dot) at the 95% confidence level; including data from other young open clusters raises this limit to as high as 7.1M(circle dot), depending on the cluster membership of three massive WDs and the core composition of the most massive WDs. We find that the apparent distance modulus and extinction derived solely from the cluster WDs ((m-M)(V) = 10.45 +/- 0.08 and E(B-V) = 0.185 +/- 0.010, respectively) is fully consistent with that derived from main-sequence fitting techniques. Four M35 WDs may be massive enough to have oxygen - neon cores; the assumed core composition does not significantly affect the empirical IFMR. Finally, the two non-DA WDs in M35 are photometrically consistent with cluster membership; further analysis is required to determine their memberships.NSF AST-0397492, AST-0602288Astronom

Atmospheric parameters and carbon abundance for hot DB white dwarfs

Atmospheric parameters for hot DB (helium atmosphere) white dwarfs near effective temperatures of 25000K are extremely difficult to determine from optical spectroscopy. This is particularly unfortunate, because this is the range of variable DBV or V777 Her stars. Accurate atmospheric parameters are needed to help or confirm the asteroseismic analysis of these objects. Another important aspect is the new class of white dwarfs - the hot DQ - detected by Dufour et al. (2007), with spectra dominated by carbon lines. The analysis shows that their atmospheres are pure carbon. The origin of these stars is not yet understood, but they may have an evolutionary link with the hotter DBs as studied here. Our aim is to determine accurate atmospheric parameters and element abundances and study the implications for the evolution white dwarfs of spectral classes DB and hot DQ. High resolution UV spectra of five DBs are studied with model atmospheres. We determine stellar parameters and abundances or upper limits of C and Si. These objects are compared with cooler DBs below 20000K. We find photospheric C and no other heavy elements - with extremely high limits on the C/Si ratio - in two of the five hot DBs. We compare various explanations for this unusual composition, which have been proposed in the literature: accretion of interstellar or circumstellar matter, radiative levitation, carbon dredge-up from deeper interior below the helium layer, and a residual stellar wind. None of these explanations is completely satisfactory, and the problem of the origin of the hot DQ remains an open question

The frequency of planetary debris around young white dwarfs

(Abridged) We present the results of the first unbiased survey for metal pollution among H-atmosphere (DA) white dwarfs with cooling ages of 20-200 Myr and 17000K < Teff < 27000K, using HST COS in the far UV between 1130 and 1435 A. The atmospheric parameters and element abundances are determined using theoretical models, which include the effects of element stratification due to gravitational settling and radiative levitation. We find 48 of the 85 DA white dwarfs studied, or 56% show traces of metals. In 25 stars, the elements can be explained by radiative levitation alone, although we argue that accretion has very likely occurred recently. The remaining 23 white dwarfs (27%) must be currently accreting. Together with previous studies, we find no accretion rate trend in cooling age from ~40 Myr to ~2 Gyr. The median, main sequence progenitor of our sample corresponds to a star of ~2 Msun, and we find 13 of 23 white dwarfs descending from 2-3 Msun late B- and A-type stars to be currently accreting. Only one of 14 targets with Mwd > 0.8 Msun is found to be currently accreting, which suggests a large fraction are double-degenerate mergers, and the merger discs do not commonly reform large planetesimals or otherwise pollute the remnant. We reconfirm our previous finding that two white dwarf Hyads are currently accreting rocky debris. At least 27%, and possibly up to ~50%, of all white dwarfs with cooling ages 20-200 Myr are accreting planetary debris. At Teff > 23000K, the luminosity of white dwarfs is likely sufficient to vaporize circumstellar dust, and hence no stars with strong metal-pollution are found. However, planetesimal disruption events should occur in this cooling age and Teff range as well, and likely result in short phases of high mass transfer rates. It appears that the formation of rocky planetary material is common around 2-3 Msun late B- and A-type stars.Comment: Accepted by A&

An empirical initial-final mass relation from hot, massive white dwarfs in NGC 2168 (M35)

The relation between the zero-age main sequence mass of a star and its white-dwarf remnant (the initial-final mass relation) is a powerful tool for exploration of mass loss processes during stellar evolution. We present an empirical derivation of the initial-final mass relation based on spectroscopic analysis of seven massive white dwarfs in NGC 2168 (M35). Using an internally consistent data set, we show that the resultant white dwarf mass increases monotonically with progenitor mass for masses greater than 4 solar masses, one of the first open clusters to show this trend. We also find two massive white dwarfs foreground to the cluster that are otherwise consistent with cluster membership. These white dwarfs can be explained as former cluster members moving steadily away from the cluster at speeds of <~0.5 km/s since their formation and may provide the first direct evidence of the loss of white dwarfs from open clusters. Based on these data alone, we constrain the upper mass limit of WD progenitors to be >=5.8 solar masses at the 90% confidence level for a cluster age of 150 Myr.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. Contains some acknowledgements not in accepted version (for space reasons), otherwise identical to accepted versio

DB white dwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data release 10 and 12

Aims. White dwarfs with helium-dominated atmospheres (spectral types DO, DB) comprise approximately 20% of all white dwarfs. There are fewer studies than of their hydrogen-rich counterparts (DA) and thus several questions remain open. Among these are the total masses and the origin of the hydrogen traces observed in a large number and the nature of the deficit of DBs in the range from 30 000−45 000K. We use the largest-ever sample (by a factor of 10) provided by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to study these questions. Methods. The photometric and spectroscopic data of 1107 helium-rich objects from the SDSS are analyzed using theoretical model atmospheres. Along with the effective temperature and surface gravity, we also determine hydrogen and calcium abundances or upper limits for all objects. The atmosphere models are extended with envelope calculations to determine the extent of the helium convection zones and thus the total amount of hydrogen and calcium present. Results. When accounting for problems in determining surface gravities at low Teff, we find an average mass for helium-dominated white dwarfs of 0.606 ± 0.004 M , which is very similar to the latest determinations for DAs. There are 32% of the sample with detected hydrogen, but this increases to 75% if only the objects with the highest signal-to-noise ratios are considered. In addition, 10−12% show traces of calcium, which must come from an external source. The interstellar medium (ISM) is ruled out by the fact that all polluted objects show a Ca/H ratio that is much larger than solar. We also present arguments that demonstrate that the hydrogen is very likely not accreted from the ISM but is the result of convective mixing of a residual thin hydrogen layer with the developing helium convection zone. It is very important to carefully consider the bias from observational selection effects when drawing these conclusions