Analysis of the Hydrogen-rich Magnetic White Dwarfs in the SDSS

We have calculated optical spectra of hydrogen-rich (DA) white dwarfs with magnetic field strengths between 1 MG and 1000 MG for temperatures between 7000 K and 50000 K. Through a least-squares minimization scheme with an evolutionary algorithm, we have analyzed the spectra of 114 magnetic DAs from the SDSS (95 previously published plus 14 newly discovered within SDSS, and five discovered by SEGUE). Since we were limited to a single spectrum for each object we used only centered magnetic dipoles or dipoles which were shifted along the magnetic dipole axis. We also statistically investigated the distribution of magnetic-field strengths and geometries of our sample.Comment: to appear in the proceedings of the 16th European Workshop on White Dwarfs, Barcelona, 200

The True Incidence of Magnetism among Field White Dwarfs

We study the incidence of magnetism in white dwarfs from three large and well-observed samples of hot, cool, and nearby white dwarfs in order to test whether the fraction of magnetic degenerates is biased, and whether it varies with effective temperature, cooling age, or distance. The magnetic fraction is considerably higher for the cool sample of Bergeron, Ruiz, and Leggett, and the Holberg, Oswalt, and Sion sample of local white dwarfs that it is for the generally-hotter white dwarfs of the Palomar Green Survey. We show that the mean mass of magnetic white dwarfs in this survey is 0.93 solar masses or more, so there may be a strong bias against their selection in the magnitude-limited Palomar Green Survey. We argue that this bias is not as important in the samples of cool and nearby white dwarfs. However, this bias may not account for all of the difference in the magnetic fractions of these samples. It is not clear that the magnetic white dwarfs in the cool and local samples are drawn from the same population as the hotter PG stars. In particular, two or threee of the cool sample are low-mass white dwarfs in unresolved binary systems. Moreover, there is a suggestion from the local sample that the fractional incidence may increase with decreasing temperature, luminosity, and/or cooling age. Overall, the true incidence of magnetism at the level of 2 megagauss or greater is at least 10%, and could be higher. Limited studies capable of detecting lower field strengths down to 10 kilogauss suggest by implication that the total fraction may be substantially higher than 10%.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figures, Astronomical Journal in press -- Jan 2003 issu

Analysis of hydrogen-rich magnetic white dwarfs detected in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Context A large number of magnetic white dwarfs discovered in the SDSS have so far only been analyzed by visual comparison of the observations with relatively simple models of the radiation transport in a magnetised stellar atmosphere. Aims We model the structure of the surface magnetic fields of the hydrogen-rich white dwarfs in the SDSS. Methods We calculated a grid of state-of-the-art theoretical optical spectra of hydrogen-rich magnetic white dwarfs (WDs) with magnetic field strengths of between 1 MG and 1200 MG for different angles between the magnetic field vector and the line of sight,and for effective temperatures between 7000 K and 50 000 K. We used a least squares minimization scheme with an evolutionary algorithm to find the best-fit magnetic field geometry of the observed data. We used centered dipoles or dipoles that had been shifted along the dipole axis to model the coadded SDSS fiber spectrum of each object. Result We analyzed the spectra of all known magnetic hydrogen-rich (DA) WDs from the SDSS (97 previously published, plus 44 newly discovered) and also investigated the statistical properties of the magnetic field geometries of this sample. Conclusions The total number of known magnetic white dwarfs has already been more than tripled by the SDSS and more objects are expected after more systematic searches. The magnetic fields have strengths of between ≈1 and 900 MG. Our results further support the claims that Ap/Bp population is insufficient in generating the numbers and field strength distributions of the observed MWDs, and that of either another source of progenitor types or binary evolution is needed. Clear indications of non-centered dipoles exist in about ∼50%, of the objects which is consistent with the magnetic field distribution observed in Ap/Bp stars

Monitoring and modelling of white dwarfs with extremely weak magnetic fields

Magnetic fields are detected in a few percent of white dwarfs. The number of such magnetic white dwarfs known is now some hundreds. Fields range in strength from a few kG to several hundred MG. Almost all the known magnetic white dwarfs have a mean field modulus >= 1 MG. We are trying to fill a major gap in observational knowledge at the low field limit (<= 200 kG) using circular spectro-polarimetry. In this paper we report the discovery and monitoring of strong, periodic magnetic variability in two previously discovered "super-weak field" magnetic white dwarfs, WD2047+372 and WD2359-434. WD2047+372 has a mean longitudinal field that reverses between about -12 and +15 kG, with a period of 0.243 d, while its mean field modulus appears nearly constant at 60 kG. The observations can be intepreted in terms of a dipolar field tilted with respect to the stellar rotation axis. WD2359-434 always shows a weak positive longitudinal field with values between about 0 and +12 kG, varying only weakly with stellar rotation, while the mean field modulus varies between about 50 and 100 kG. The rotation period is found to be 0.112 d using the variable shape of the Halpha line core, consistent with available photometry. The field of this star appears to be much more complex than a dipole, and is probably not axisymmetric. Available photometry shows that WD2359-434 is a light variable with an amplitude of only 0.005 mag, our own photometry shows that if WD2047+372 is photometrically variable, the amplitude is below about 0.01 mag. These are the first models for magnetic white dwarfs with fields below about 100 kG based on magnetic measurements through the full stellar rotation. They reveal two very different magnetic surface configurations, and that, contrary to simple ohmic decay theory, WD2359-434 has a much more complex surface field than the much younger WD2047+372.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Analysis of the Hydrogen-rich Magnetic White Dwarfs in the SDSS

We have calculated optical spectra of hydrogen-rich (DA) white dwarfs with magnetic field strengths between 1 MG and 1000 MG for temperatures between 7000 K and 50000 K. Through a least-squares minimization scheme with an evolutionary algorithm, we have analyzed the spectra of 114 magnetic DAs from the SDSS (95 previously published plus 14 newly discovered within SDSS, and five discovered by SEGUE). Since we were limited to a single spectrum for each object we used only centered magnetic dipoles or dipoles which were shifted along the magnetic dipole axis. We also statistically investigated the distribution of magnetic-field strengths and geometries of our sample.Comment: to appear in the proceedings of the 16th European Workshop on White Dwarfs, Barcelona, 200

Analysis of hydrogen-rich magnetic white dwarfs detected in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

We model the structure of the surface magnetic fields of the hydrogen-rich white dwarfs in the SDSS. We have calculated a grid of state-of-the-art theoretical optical spectra of hydrogen-rich magnetic white dwarfs with magnetic field strengths between 1 MG and 1200 MG for different angles, and for effective temperatures between 7000 K and 50000 K. We used a least-squares minimization scheme with an evolutionary algorithm in order to find the magnetic field geometry best fitting the observed data. We used simple centered dipoles or dipoles which were shifted along the dipole axis to model the coadded SDSS fiber spectrum of each object. We have analysed the spectra of all known magnetic DAs from the SDSS (97 previously published plus 44 newly discovered) and also investigated the statistical properties of magnetic field geometries of this sample. The total number of known magnetic white dwarfs already more than tripled by the SDSS and more objects are expected from a more systematic search. The magnetic fields span a range between ~1 and 900 MG. Our results further support the claim that Ap/Bp population is insufficient in generating the numbers and field strength distributions of the observed MWDs, and either another source of progenitor types or binary evolution is needed. Moreover clear indications for non-centered dipoles exist in about ~50% of the objects which is consistent with the magnetic field distribution observed in Ap/Bp stars.Comment: 15 pages, accepted for publication in A&A. For online version with full appendix figures, see http://www.ari.uni-heidelberg.de/mitarbeiter/bkulebi/papers/12570_online.pd