314 research outputs found
On the formation of oxygen-neon white dwarfs in close binary systems
The evolution of a star of initial mass 10 , and metallicity in a Close Binary System (CBS) is followed from its main sequence until
an ONe degenerate remnant forms. Restrictions have been made on the
characteristics of the companion as well as on the initial orbital parameters
in order to avoid the occurrence of reversal mass transfer before carbon is
ignited in the core. The system undergoes three mass loss episodes. The first
and second ones are a consequence of a case B Roche lobe overflow. During the
third mass loss episode stellar winds may play a role comparable to, or even
more important than Roche lobe overflow. In this paper, we extend the
previously existing calculations of stars of intermediate mass belonging to
close binary systems by following carefully the carbon burning phase of the
primary component. We also propose different possible outcomes for our scenario
and discuss the relevance of our findings. In particular, our main result is
that the resulting white dwarf component of mass more likely has
a core composed of oxygen and neon, surrounded by a mantle of carbon-oxygen
rich material. The average abundances of the oxygen-neon rich core are , , and . This result has important consequences for the Accretion
Induced Collapse scenario. The average abundances of the carbon-oxygen rich
mantle are , and . The existence of
this mantle could also play a significant role in our understanding of
cataclysmic variables.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Ferruccio Ritossa’s scientific legacy 50 years after his discovery of the heat shock response: a new view of biology, a new society, and a new journal
The pioneering discovery of the heat shock response by the Italian scientist Ferruccio Ritossa reached maturity this year, 2012. It was 50 years ago that Professor Ritossa, through an extraordinary combination of serendipity, curiosity, knowledge and inspiration, published the first observation that cells could mount very strong transcriptional activity when exposed to elevated temperatures, which was coined the heat shock response. This discovery led to the identification of heat shock proteins, which impact many areas of current biology and medicine, and has created a new avenue for more exciting discoveries. In recognition of the discovery of the heat shock response, Cell Stress Society International (CSSI) awarded Professor Ritossa with the CSSI medallion in October 2010 in Dozza, Italy. This article is based on a session of the Fifth CSSI Congress held in Québec commemorating Professor Ritossa and his discovery
On the origin of white dwarfs with carbon-dominated atmospheres: the case of H1504+65
We explore different evolutionary scenarios to explain the helium deficiency
observed in H1504+65, the most massive known PG1159 star. We concentrate mainly
on the possibility that this star could be the result of mass loss shortly
after the born-again and during the subsequent evolution through the [WCL]
stage. This possibility is sustained by recent observational evidence of
extensive mass-loss events in Sakurai's object and is in line with the recent
finding that such mass losses give rise to PG1159 models with thin helium-rich
envelopes and large rates of period change, as demanded by the pulsating star
PG1159-035. We compute the post born again evolution of massive sequences by
taking into account different mass-loss rate histories. Our results show that
stationary winds during the post-born-again evolution fail to remove completely
the helium-rich envelope so as to explain the helium deficiency observed in
H1504+65. Stationary winds during the Sakurai and [WCL] stages only remove at
most half of the envelope surviving the violent hydrogen burning during the
born-again phase. In view of our results, the recently suggested evolutionary
connection born-again stars --> H1504+65 --> white dwarfs with carbon-rich
atmospheres is difficult to sustain unless the whole helium-rich envelope could
be ejected by non-stationary mass-loss episodes during the Sakurai stage.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. To be published in Astronomy & Astrophysic
On the formation of Super-AGB stars in intemediate mass close binary systems
The evolution of a star of initial mass 9 M_s, and Z = 0.02 in a Close Binary
System is followed in the presence of different mass companions in order to
study their influence on the final evolutionary stages and, in particular, on
the structure and composition of the remnant components. We study two extreme
cases. In the first one the mass of the secondary is 8 M_s, whereas in the
second one the mass was assumed to be 1 M_s. For the first of those cases we
have also explored the possible outcomes of both conservative and
non-conservative mass-loss episodes. During the first mass transfer episode,
several differences arise between the models. The system with the more extreme
mass ratio is not able to survive the 1st. Roche lobe overflow, and spiral-in
of the secondary onto the envelope of the primary is most likely. The system
formed by two stars of comparable mass undergoes two mass transfer episodes in
which the primary is the donor. We have performed two sets of calculations
corresponding to this case in order to account for conservative and
non-conservative mass transfer during the first mass loss episode. One of our
main results is that for the non-conservative case the secondary becomes a
Super-AGB. Such a star undergoes a final dredge-up episode, similar to that of
a single star of comparable mass. The primary components do not undergo a
Super-AGB phase, but instead a carbon-oxygen white dwarf is formed in both
cases, before reversal mass transfer occurs. However, given the extreme mass
ratios at this stage between the components of the binary system, the
possibility of merger episodes remains likely. We also discuss the presumable
final outcomes of the system and possible observational counterparts.Comment: 10 pages, 12figures, accepted for publication in A&
The gravitational collapse of ONe electron-degenerate cores and white dwarfs: the role of Mg and C revisited
The final stages of the evolution of electron--degenerate ONe cores,
resulting from carbon burning in ``heavy weight'' intermediate--mass stars (8
M_{\sun}\la M \la 11 M_{\sun}) and growing in mass, either from carbon burning
in a shell or from accretion of matter in a close binary system, are examined
in the light of their detailed chemical composition. In particular, we have
modelled the evolution taking into account the abundances of the following
minor nuclear species, which result from the previous evolutionary history:
C, Na, Mg, and Mg. Both Na and Mg
give rise to Urca processes, which are found to be unimportant for the final
outcome of the evolution. Mg was formerly considered a major component
of ONe cores (hence called ONeMg cores), but updated evolutionary calculations
in this mass range have severely reduced its abundance. Nevertheless, we have
parameterized it and we have found that the minimum amount of Mg
required to produce NeO burning at moderate densities is , a value
exceedingly high in the light of recent evolutionary models. Finally, we have
determined that models with relatively small abundances of unburnt carbon
(C)) could be a channel to explosion at low to moderate
density ( g cm). This is clearly below the current
estimate for the explosion/collapse threshold and would have interesting
consequences.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Astronomy and Astrophysic
EC-SNe from super-AGB progenitors: theoretical models vs. observations
Using a parametric approach, we determine the configuration of super-AGB
stars at the explosion as a function of the initial mass and metallicity, in
order to verify if the EC-SN scenario involving a super-AGB star is compatible
with the observations regarding SN2008ha and SN2008S. The results show that
both the SNe can be explained in terms of EC-SNe from super-AGB progenitors
having a different configuration at the collapse. The impact of these results
on the interpretation of other sub-luminous SNe is also discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ
Pulsations of massive ZZ Ceti stars with carbon/oxygen and oxygen/neon cores
We explore the adiabatic pulsational properties of massive white dwarf stars
with hydrogen-rich envelopes and oxygen/neon and carbon/oxygen cores. To this
end, we compute the cooling of massive white dwarf models for both core
compositions taking into account the evolutionary history of the progenitor
stars and the chemical evolution caused by time-dependent element diffusion. In
particular, for the oxygen/neon models, we adopt the chemical profile resulting
from repeated carbon-burning shell flashes expected in very massive white dwarf
progenitors. For carbon/oxygen white dwarfs we consider the chemical profiles
resulting from phase separation upon crystallization. For both compositions we
also take into account the effects of crystallization on the oscillation
eigenmodes. We find that the pulsational properties of oxygen/neon white dwarfs
are notably different from those made of carbon/oxygen, thus making
asteroseismological techniques a promising way to distinguish between both
types of stars and, hence, to obtain valuable information about their
progenitors.Comment: 11 pages, including 11 postscript figures. Accepted for publication
in Astronomy and Astrophysic
Constraints on the origin of the massive, hot, and rapidly rotating magnetic white dwarf RE J 0317-853 from an HST parallax measurement
We use the parallax measurements of RE J 0317-853 to determine its mass,
radius, and cooling age and thereby constrain its evolutionary origins. We
observed RE J 0317-853 with the the Hubble Space Telescope's Fine Guidance
System to measure the parallax of RE J 0317-853 and its binary companion, the
non-magnetic white dwarf LB 9802. In addition, we acquired spectra of
comparison stars with the Boller & Chivens spectrograph of the SMARTS telescope
to correct the parallax zero point. For the corrected parallax, we determine
the radius, mass, and the cooling age with the help of evolutionary models from
the literature. The properties of RE J 0317-853 are constrained using the
parallax information. We discuss the different cases of the core composition
and the uncertain effective temperature. We confirm that RE J 0317-853 is close
to the Chandrasekhar's mass limit in all cases and almost as old as its
companion LB 9802. The precise evolutionary history of RE J 0317-853 depends on
our knowledge of its effective temperature. It is possible that it had a single
star progenitor possible if we assume that the effective temperature is at the
cooler end of the possible range from 30000 to 50000; if T_eff is instead at
the hotter end, a binary-merger scenario for RE J 0317-853 becomes more
plausible.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures; language revised edition with added references.
Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic
Mass-radius relations for massive white dwarf stars
We present detailed theoretical mass-radius relations for massive white dwarf
stars with oxygen-neon cores. This work is motivated by recent observational
evidence about the existence of white dwarf stars with very high surface
gravities. Our results are based on evolutionary calculations that take into
account the chemical composition expected from the evolutionary history of
massive white dwarf progenitors. We present theoretical mass-radius relations
for stellar mass values ranging from 1.06 to 1.30 Mo with a step of 0.02 Mo and
effective temperatures from 150000 K to approx. 5,000 K. A novel aspect
predicted by our calculations is that the mass-radius relation for the most
massive white dwarfs exhibits a marked dependence on the neutrino luminosity.
Extensive tabulations for massive white dwarfs, accessible from our web site,
are presented as well.Comment: 7 pages, including 8 postscript figures. Accepted for publication in
Astronomy and Astrophysic
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