Two substellar survivor candidates: one found and one missing

This study presents observations of two possible substellar survivors of post-main sequence engulfment, currently orbiting white dwarf stars. Infrared and optical spectroscopy of GD 1400 reveals a 9.98 h orbital period, where the benchmark brown dwarf has M2 = 68 ± 8 MJup, Teff ≈ 2100 K, and a cooling age under 1 Gyr. A substellar mass in the lower range of allowed values is favoured by the gravitational redshift of the primary. Synthetic brown dwarf spectra are able to reproduce the observed CO bands, but lines below the bandhead are notably overpredicted. The known infrared excess towards PG 0010+281 is consistent with a substellar companion, yet no radial velocity or photometric variability is found despite extensive searches. Three independent stellar mass determinations all suggest enhanced mass-loss associated with binary evolution, where the youngest total age for an isolated star is 7.5 ± 2.5 Gyr. A possible solution to this conundrum is the cannibalization of one or more giant planets, which enhanced mass-loss post-main sequence, but were ultimately destroyed. PG 0010 + 281 is likely orbited by a debris disc that is comfortably exterior to the Roche limit, adding to the growing number of non-canonical discs orbiting white dwarfs. At present, only L-type (brown) dwarfs are known to survive direct engulfment during the post-main sequence, whereas T- and Y-type substellar companions persist at wide separations. These demographics indicate that roughly 50 MJup is required to robustly avoid post-main sequence annihilation, suggesting all closely orbiting giant planets are consumed, which may contribute to mass-loss and magnetic-field generation in white dwarfs and their immediate progenitors

A test of the planet-star unipolar inductor for magnetic white dwarfs

Despite thousands of spectroscopic detections, only four isolated white dwarfs exhibit Balmer emission lines. The temperature inversion mechanism is a puzzle over 30 years old that has defied conventional explanations. One hypothesis is a unipolar inductor that achieves surface heating via ohmic dissipation of a current loop between a conducting planet and a magnetic white dwarf. To investigate this model, new time-resolved spectroscopy, spectropolarimetry, and photometry of the prototype GD 356 are studied. The emission features vary in strength on the rotational period, but in antiphase with the light curve, consistent with a cool surface spot beneath an optically thin chromosphere. Possible changes in the line profiles are observed at the same photometric phase, potentially suggesting modest evolution of the emission region, while the magnetic field varies by 10 per cent over a full rotation. These comprehensive data reveal neither changes to the photometric period, nor additional signals such as might be expected from an orbiting body. A closer examination of the unipolar inductor model finds points of potential failure: the observed rapid stellar rotation will inhibit current carriers due to the centrifugal force, there may be no supply of magnetospheric ions, and no antiphase flux changes are expected from ohmic surface heating. Together with the highly similar properties of the four cool, emission-line white dwarfs, these facts indicate that the chromospheric emission is intrinsic. A tantalizing possibility is that intrinsic chromospheres may manifest in (magnetic) white dwarfs, and in distinct parts of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram based on structure and composition

Testing the white dwarf mass-radius relationship with eclipsing binaries

We present high-precision, model-independent, mass and radius measurements for 16 white dwarfs in detached eclipsing binaries and combine these with previously published data to test the theoretical white dwarf mass–radius relationship. We reach a mean precision of 2.4 per cent in mass and 2.7 per cent in radius, with our best measurements reaching a precision of 0.3 per cent in mass and 0.5 per cent in radius. We find excellent agreement between the measured and predicted radii across a wide range of masses and temperatures. We also find the radii of all white dwarfs with masses less than 0.48 M⊙ to be fully consistent with helium core models, but they are on average 9 per cent larger than those of carbon–oxygen core models. In contrast, white dwarfs with masses larger than 0.52 M⊙ all have radii consistent with carbon–oxygen core models. Moreover, we find that all but one of the white dwarfs in our sample have radii consistent with possessing thick surface hydrogen envelopes (10−5 ≥ MH/MWD ≥ 10−4), implying that the surface hydrogen layers of these white dwarfs are not obviously affected by common envelope evolution

High-speed photometry of Gaia14aae: an eclipsing AMCVn that challenges formation models

AM CVn-type systems are ultracompact, hydrogen-deficient accreting binaries with degenerate or semidegenerate donors. The evolutionary history of these systems can be explored by constraining the properties of their donor stars. We present high-speed photometry of Gaia14aae, an AM CVn with a binary period of 49. 7 min and the first AM CVn in which the central white dwarf is fully eclipsed by the donor star. Modelling of the light curves of this system allows for the most precise measurement to date of the donor mass of an AM CVn, and relies only on geometric and well-tested physical assumptions. We find a mass ratio q = M2/M1 = 0.0287 ± 0.0020 and masses M1 = 0.87 ± 0.02 M⊙ and M2 = 0.0250 ± 0.0013 M⊙. We compare these properties to the three proposed channels for AM CVn formation. Our measured donor mass and radius do not fit with the contraction that is predicted for AM CVn donors descended from white dwarfs or helium stars at long orbital periods. The donor properties we measure fall in a region of parameter space in which systems evolved from hydrogen-dominated cataclysmic variables are expected, but such systems should show spectroscopic hydrogen, which is not seen in Gaia14aae. The evolutionary history of this system is therefore not clear. We consider a helium-burning star or an evolved cataclysmic variable to be the most likely progenitors, but both models require additional processes and/or fine-tuning to fit the data. Additionally, we calculate an updated ephemeris which corrects for an anomalous time measurement in the previously published ephemeris

The scatter of the M dwarf mass-radius relationship

M dwarfs are prime targets in the hunt for habitable worlds around other stars. This is due to their abundance as well as their small radii and low masses and temperatures, which facilitate the detection of temperate, rocky planets in orbit around them. However, the fundamental properties of M dwarfs are difficult to constrain, often limiting our ability to characterize the planets they host. Here we test several theoretical relationships for M dwarfs by measuring 23 high-precision, model-independent masses and radii for M dwarfs in binaries with white dwarfs. We find a large scatter in the radii of these low-mass stars, with 25 per cent having radii consistent with theoretical models while the rest are up to 12 per cent overinflated. This scatter is seen in both partially and fully convective M dwarfs. No clear trend is seen between the overinflation and age or metallicity, but there are indications that the radii of slowly rotating M dwarfs are more consistent with predictions, albeit with a similar amount of scatter in the measurements compared to more rapidly rotating M dwarfs. The sample of M dwarfs in close binaries with white dwarfs appears indistinguishable from other M dwarf samples, implying that common envelope evolution has a negligible impact on their structure. We conclude that theoretical and empirical mass–radius relationships lack the precision and accuracy required to measure the fundamental parameters of M dwarfs well enough to determine the internal structure and bulk composition of the planets they host

Madagascar corals track sea surface temperature variability in the Agulhas Current core region over the past 334 years

The Agulhas Current (AC) is the strongest western boundary current in the Southern Hemisphere and is key for weather and climate patterns, both regionally and globally. Its heat transfer into both the midlatitude South Indian Ocean and South Atlantic is of global significance. A new composite coral record (Ifaty and Tulear massive Porites corals), is linked to historical AC sea surface temperature (SST) instrumental data, showing robust correlations. The composite coral SST data start in 1660 and comprise 200 years more than the AC instrumental record. Numerical modelling exhibits that this new coral derived SST record is representative for the wider core region of the AC. AC SSTs variabilities show distinct cooling through the Little Ice Age and warming during the late 18th, 19th and 20th century, with significant decadal variability superimposed. Furthermore, the AC SSTs are teleconnected with the broad southern Indian and Atlantic Oceans, showing that the AC system is pivotal for inter-ocean heat exchange south of Africa

The Evolution of Compact Binary Star Systems

We review the formation and evolution of compact binary stars consisting of white dwarfs (WDs), neutron stars (NSs), and black holes (BHs). Binary NSs and BHs are thought to be the primary astrophysical sources of gravitational waves (GWs) within the frequency band of ground-based detectors, while compact binaries of WDs are important sources of GWs at lower frequencies to be covered by space interferometers (LISA). Major uncertainties in the current understanding of properties of NSs and BHs most relevant to the GW studies are discussed, including the treatment of the natal kicks which compact stellar remnants acquire during the core collapse of massive stars and the common envelope phase of binary evolution. We discuss the coalescence rates of binary NSs and BHs and prospects for their detections, the formation and evolution of binary WDs and their observational manifestations. Special attention is given to AM CVn-stars -- compact binaries in which the Roche lobe is filled by another WD or a low-mass partially degenerate helium-star, as these stars are thought to be the best LISA verification binary GW sources.Comment: 105 pages, 18 figure

Lawson criterion for ignition exceeded in an inertial fusion experiment

For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin "burn propagation" into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While "scientific breakeven" (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this Letter reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion

Velocity-imaging the rapidly precessing planetary disc around the white dwarf HE1349-2305 using Doppler tomography

The presence of planetary material in white dwarf atmospheres, thought to be accreted from a dusty debris disc produced via the tidal disruption of a planetesimal, is common. Approximately 5 per cent of these discs host a co-orbital gaseous component detectable via emission from atomic transitions  –  usually the 8600 Å Ca II triplet. These emission profiles can be highly variable in both morphology and strength. Furthermore, the morphological variations in a few systems have been shown to be periodic, likely produced by an apsidally precessing asymmetric disc. Of the known gaseous debris discs, that around HE 1349–2305 has the most rapidly evolving emission-line morphology, and we present updated spectroscopy of the Ca II triplet of this system. The additional observations show that the emission-line morphologies vary periodically and consistently, and we constrain the period to two aliases of 459 ± 3 and 502 ± 3 d. We produce images of the Ca II triplet emission from the disc in velocity space using Doppler tomography  –  only the second such imaging of a white dwarf debris disc. We suggest that the asymmetric nature of these velocity images is generated by gas moving on eccentric orbits with radially dependent excitation conditions via photoionization from the white dwarf. We also obtained short-cadence (≃4 min) spectroscopy to search for variability on the time-scale of the disc’s orbital period (≃hours) due to the presence of a planetesimal, and rule out variability at a level of ≃1.4 per cent