The Extent and Cause of the Pre-White Dwarf Instability Strip

One of the least understood aspects of white dwarf evolution is the process by which they are formed. We are aided, however, by the fact that many H- and He-deficient pre-white dwarfs (PWDs) are multiperiodic g-mode pulsators. Pulsations in PWDs provide a unique opportunity to probe their interiors, which are otherwise inaccesible to direct observation. Until now, however, the nature of the pulsation mechanism, the precise boundaries of the instability strip, and the mass distribution of the PWDs were complete mysteries. These problems must be addressed before we can apply knowledge of pulsating PWDs to improve understanding of white dwarf formation. This paper lays the groundwork for future theoretical investigations of these stars. In recent years, Whole Earth Telescope observations led to determination of mass and luminosity for the majority of the (non-central star) PWD pulsators. With these observations, we identify the common properties and trends PWDs exhibit as a class. We find that pulsators of low mass have higher luminosity, suggesting the range of instability is highly mass-dependent. The observed trend of decreasing periods with decreasing luminosity matches a decrease in the maximum (standing-wave) g-mode period across the instability strip. We show that the red edge can be caused by the lengthening of the driving timescale beyond the maximum sustainable period. This result is general for ionization-based driving mechanisms, and it explains the mass-dependence of the red edge. The observed form of the mass-dependence provides a vital starting point for future theoretical investigations of the driving mechanism. We also show that the blue edge probably remains undetected because of selection effects arising from rapid evolution.Comment: 40 pages, 6 figures, accepted by ApJ Oct 27, 199

Dynamic model atmospheres of cool giants

Cool giant stars are highly dynamical objects, and complex micro-physical processes play an important role in their extended atmospheres and winds. The interpretation of observations, and in particular of high-resolution IR spectra, requires realistic self-consistent model atmospheres. Current dynamical models include rather detailed micro-physics, and the resulting synthetic spectra compare reasonably well with observations. A transition from qualitative to quantitative modelling is taking place at present. We give an overview of existing dynamical model atmospheres for AGB stars, discussing recent advances and current trends in modelling, including 3D 'star-in-a-box' models. When comparing synthetic spectra and other observable properties resulting from dynamical models with observations we focus on the near- and mid-IR wavelength range.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Proc. of ESO Workshop on High Resolution Infrared Spectroscopy in Astronomy, eds. Kaeufl H.U., Siebenmorgen R., Moorwood A., ESO Astrophysics Symposia, Springe

Local Radiative Hydrodynamic and Magnetohydrodynamic Instabilities in Optically Thick Media

We examine the local conditions for radiative damping and driving of short wavelength, propagating hydrodynamic and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves in static, optically thick, stratified equilibria. We show that so-called strange modes in stellar oscillation theory and magnetic photon bubbles are intimately related and are both fundamentally driven by the background radiation flux acting on compressible waves. We identify the necessary criteria for unstable driving of these waves, and show that this driving can exist in both gas and radiation pressure dominated media, as well as pure Thomson scattering media in the MHD case. The equilibrium flux acting on opacity fluctuations can drive both hydrodynamic acoustic waves and magnetosonic waves unstable. In addition, magnetosonic waves can be driven unstable by a combination of the equilibrium flux acting on density fluctuations and changes in the background radiation pressure along fluid displacements. We briefly describe the conditions under which these instabilities might be manifested in both main sequence stellar envelopes and accretion disks.Comment: 55 pages, revised version accepted for publication by ApJ. New appendix added justifying WKB analysi

New SPB stars in the field of the young open cluster NGC 2244 discovered by the MOST photometric satellite

During two weeks of nearly continuous optical photometry of the young open cluster NGC 2244 obtained by the MOST satellite, we discovered two new SPB stars, GSC 00154-00785 and GSC 00154-01871. We present frequency analyses of the MOST light curves of these stars, which reveal two oscillation frequencies (0.61 and 0.71 c/d) in GSC 00154-00785 and two (0.40 and 0.51 c/d) in GSC 00154-01871. These frequency ranges are consistent with g-modes of $\ell \leq 2$ excited in models of main-sequence or pre-main-sequence (PMS) stars of masses 4.5 - 5 $M_{\odot}$ and solar composition $(X, Z)= (0.7, 0.02)$. Published proper motion measurements and radial velocities are insufficient to establish unambiguously cluster membership for these two stars. However, the PMS models which fit best their eigenspectra have ages consistent with NGC 2244. If cluster membership can be confirmed, these would be the first known PMS SPB stars, and would open a new window on testing asteroseismically the interior structures of PMS stars.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRA

Convective quenching of stellar pulsations

Context: we study the convection-pulsation coupling that occurs in cold Cepheids close to the red edge of the classical instability strip. In these stars, the surface convective zone is supposed to stabilise the radial oscillations excited by the kappa-mechanism. Aims: we study the influence of the convective motions onto the amplitude and the nonlinear saturation of acoustic modes excited by kappa-mechanism. We are interested in determining the physical conditions needed to lead to a quenching of oscillations by convection. Methods: we compute two-dimensional nonlinear simulations (DNS) of the convection-pulsation coupling, in which the oscillations are sustained by a continuous physical process: the kappa-mechanism. Thanks to both a frequential analysis and a projection of the physical fields onto an acoustic subspace, we study how the convective motions affect the unstable radial oscillations. Results: depending on the initial physical conditions, two main behaviours are obtained: (i) either the unstable fundamental acoustic mode has a large amplitude, carries the bulk of the kinetic energy and shows a nonlinear saturation similar to the purely radiative case; (ii) or the convective motions affect significantly the mode amplitude that remains very weak. In this second case, convection is quenching the acoustic oscillations. We interpret these discrepancies in terms of the difference in density contrast: larger stratification leads to smaller convective plumes that do not affect much the purely radial modes, while large-scale vortices may quench the oscillations.Comment: 15 pages, 17 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in A&

The Potential of Asteroseismology for Hot, Subdwarf B Stars: A New Class of Pulsating Stars?

We present key sample results of a systematic survey of the pulsation properties of models of hot B subdwarfs. We use equilibrium structures taken from detailed evolutionary sequences of solar metallicity (Z = 0.02) supplemented by grids of static envelope models of various metallicities (Z = 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, and 0.10). We consider all pulsation modes with l = 0, 1, 2, and 3 in the 80--1500 s period window, the interval currently most suitable for fast photometric detection techniques. We establish that significant driving is often present in hot B subdwarfs and is due to an opacity bump associated with heavy element ionization. We find that models with Z >= 0.04 show low radial order unstable modes; both radial and nonradial (p, f, and g) pulsations are excited. The unstable models have Teff > 30,000 K, and log g > 5.7, depending somewhat on the metallicity. We emphasize that metal enrichment needs only occur locally in the driving region. On this basis, combined with the accepted view that local enrichments and depletions of metals are common place in the envelopes of hot B subdwarfs, we predict that some of these stars should show luminosity variations resulting from pulsational instabilities.Comment: 9 pages, AAS LaTeX v4.0 + one postscript figure. Best with times.sty. Submitted to Astrophysical Journal Letters. Postscript file also available at http://shemesh.gsfc.nasa.gov/~dorman/Ben.htm

DNS of the kappa-mechanism. I. Radial modes in the purely radiative case

Context: Hydrodynamical model of the kappa-mechanism in a purely radiative case. Aims: First, to determine the physical conditions propitious to kappa-mechanism in a layer with a configurable conductivity hollow and second, to perform the (nonlinear) direct numerical simulations (DNS) from the most favourable setups. Methods: A linear stability analysis applied to radial modes using a spectral solver and DNS thanks to a high-order finite difference code are compared. Results: Changing the hollow properties (location and shape) lead to well-defined instability strips. For a given position in the layer, the amplitude and width of the hollow appear to be the key parameters to get unstable modes driven by kappa-mechanism. The DNS achieved from these more auspicious configurations confirm the growth rates as well as structures of linearly unstable modes. The nonlinear saturation follows through intricate couplings between the excited fundamental mode and higher damped overtones.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in A&

Most Detects G- and P-Modes in the B Supergiant HD 163899 (B2Ib/II)

The {\it Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars (MOST)} satellite observed the B supergiant HD 163899 (B2 Ib/II) for 37 days as a guide star and detected 48 frequencies \la 2.8 c d$^{-1}$ with amplitudes of a few milli-magnitudes (mmag) and less. The frequency range embraces g- and p-mode pulsations. It was generally thought that no g-modes are excited in less luminous B supergiants because strong radiative damping is expected in the core. Our theoretical models, however, show that such g-modes are excited in massive post-main-sequence stars, in accordance with these observations. The nonradial pulsations excited in models between $20M_\odot$ at $\log T_{\rm eff} \approx 4.41$ and $15M_\odot$ at $\log T_{\rm eff} \approx 4.36$ are roughly consistent with the observed frequency range. Excitation by the Fe-bump in opacity is possible because g-modes can be partially reflected at a convective zone associated with the hydrogen-burning shell, which significantly reduces radiative damping in the core. The {\it MOST} light curve of HD 163899 shows that such a reflection of g-modes actually occurs, and reveals the existence of a previously unrecognized type of variable, slowly pulsating B supergiants (SPBsg) distinct from $\alpha$ Cyg variables. Such g-modes have great potential for asteroseismology.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, Astrophysical Journal in pres

MOST Detects g-Modes in the Late-Type be Star beta CMi (B8Ve)

The Microvariability and Oscillations of stars (MOST) satellite has detected low-amplitude light variations ($\Delta m\sim$1 mmag) in the Be star $\beta$ CMi (B8Ve). The observations lasted 41 days and the variations have typical periods $\sim 0.3$ days. We demonstrate that the dominant frequencies are consistent with prograde high-order g-modes of $m=-1$ excited by the Fe-bump of opacity in an intermediate-mass ($\approx 3.5 M_\odot$) star with a nearly critical rotation period of 0.38 days. This is the first detection of nonradial g-mode pulsations in a Be star later than B6 leading to the possibility that pulsations are excited in all classical Be stars.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures; Astrophysical Journal part 1 in pres