White dwarf constraints on a varying GG

A secular variation of $G$ modifies the structure and evolutionary time scales of white dwarfs. Using an state-of-the-art stellar evolutionary code, an up-to-date pulsational code, and a detailed population synthesis code we demonstrate that the effects of a running $G$ are obvious both in the properties of individual white dwarfs, and in those of the white dwarf populations in clusters. Specifically, we show that the white dwarf evolutionary sequences depend on both the value of $\dot G/G$, and on the value of $G$ when the white dwarf was born. We show as well that the pulsational properties of variable white dwarfs can be used to constrain $\dot G/G$. Finally, we also show that the ensemble properties of of white dwarfs in clusters can also be used to set upper bounds to $\dot G/G$. Precisely, the tightest bound --- $\dot G/G \sim -1.8 10^{-12}$ yr$^{-1}$ --- is obtained studying the population of the old, metal-rich, well populated, open cluster NGC 6791. Less stringent upper limits can be obtained comparing the theoretical results obtained taking into account the effects of a running $G$ with the measured rates of change of the periods of two well studied pulsating white dwarfs, G117--B15A and R548. Using these white dwarfs we obtain $\dot G/G\sim -1.8\times 10^{-10}$ yr$^{-1}$, and $\dot G/G\sim -1.3\times 10^{-10}$ yr$^{-1}$, respectively, which although less restrictive than the previous bound, can be improved measuring the rate of change of the period of massive white dwarfs.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. To be published in the proceedings of the conference "Varying fundamental constants and dynamical dark energy" (8 - 13 July 2013, Sexten Center for Astrophysics

Evaluación de las condiciones de mezcla y su influencia sobre el cloro residual entanques de compensación de un sistema de distribución de agua potable

We performed a real scale evaluation of mixing conditions and its influence on water quality in a compensation tank of drinking-water distribution system located in the city of Cali, Colombia. The hydrodynamic study with continuous injection of tracer, and temperature and free chlorine measurements for identifying the mixing regime in the tank’s interior, residence time, thermal stratification, and chlorine variations in the stored water showed the typical characteristics of a compensation tank. We concluded that water recirculation, inadequate water exchange, low moment fluxes associated with low velocity flows, and punctual thermal stratification could lead to high water age, high residence times in the tank, inadequate mixing, and important loss of free residual chlorine. The methodology developed is suitable for evaluation and optimization of compensation tanks of drinking water distribution systems.Realizamos una evaluación a escala real de las condiciones de mezcla y su influencia en la calidad del agua en un tanque de compensación del sistema de distribución de agua potable ubicado en la ciudad de Cali, Colombia. El estudio hidrodinámico con inyección continua de marcador y mediciones de temperatura y cloro libre para identificar el régimen de mezcla en el interior del tanque, el tiempo de residencia, la estratificación térmica y las variaciones de cloro en el agua almacenada mostraron las características típicas de un tanque de compensación. Llegamos a la conclusión de que la recirculación de agua, el intercambio de agua inadecuado, los flujos de momento bajos asociados con los flujos de baja velocidad y la estratificación térmica puntual podrían conducir a una alta edad del agua, tiempos de residencia elevados en el tanque, mezcla inadecuada y pérdida importante de cloro residual libre. La metodología desarrollada es adecuada para la evaluación y optimización de tanques de compensación de sistemas de distribución de agua potable

The Tucana/Horologium, Columba, AB Doradus, and Argus Associations: New Members and Dusty Debris Disks

We propose 35 star systems within ~70 pc of Earth as newly identified members of nearby young stellar kinematic groups; these identifications include the first A- and late-B type members of the AB Doradus moving group and field Argus Association. All but one of the 35 systems contain a bright solar- or earlier-type star that should make an excellent target for the next generation of adaptive optics (AO) imaging systems on large telescopes. AO imaging has revealed four massive planets in orbit around the {\lambda} Boo star HR 8799. Initially the planets were of uncertain mass due in large part to the uncertain age of the star. We find that HR 8799 is a likely member of the ~30 Myr old Columba Association implying planet masses ~6 times that of Jupiter. We consider Spitzer Space Telescope MIPS photometry of stars in the ~30 Myr old Tucana/Horologium and Columba Associations, the ~40 Myr old field Argus Association, and the ~70 Myr old AB Doradus moving group. The percentage of stars in these young stellar groups that display excess emission above the stellar photosphere at 24 and 70 \mu m wavelengths - indicative of the presence of a dusty debris disk - is compared with corresponding percentages for members of 11 open clusters and stellar associations with ages between 8 and 750 Myr, thus elucidating the decay of debris disks with time.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

Carbon-oxygen ultra-massive white dwarfs in general relativity

We employ the La Plata stellar evolution code, LPCODE, to compute the first set of constant rest-mass carbon-oxygen ultra-massive white dwarf evolutionary sequences for masses higher than 1.29 Msun that fully take into account the effects of general relativity on their structural and evolutionary properties. In addition, we employ the LP-PUL pulsation code to compute adiabatic g-mode Newtonian pulsations on our fully relativistic equilibrium white dwarf models. We find that carbon-oxygen white dwarfs more massive than 1.382 Msun become gravitationally unstable with respect to general relativity effects, being this limit higher than the 1.369 Msun we found for oxygen-neon white dwarfs. As the stellar mass approaches the limiting mass value, the stellar radius becomes substantially smaller compared with the Newtonian models. Also, the thermo-mechanical and evolutionary properties of the most massive white dwarfs are strongly affected by general relativity effects. We also provide magnitudes for our cooling sequences in different passbands. Finally, we explore for the first time the pulsational properties of relativistic ultra-massive white dwarfs and find that the period spacings and oscillation kinetic energies are strongly affected in the case of most massive white dwarfs. We conclude that the general relativity effects should be taken into account for an accurate assessment of the structural, evolutionary, and pulsational properties of white dwarfs with masses above 1.30 Msun.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2208.1414

General relativistic pulsations of ultra-massive ZZ Ceti stars

Ultra-massive white dwarf stars are currently being discovered at a considerable rate, thanks to surveys such as the {\it Gaia} space mission. These dense and compact stellar remnants likely play a major role in type Ia supernova explosions. It is possible to probe the interiors of ultra-massive white dwarfs through asteroseismology. In the case of the most massive white dwarfs, General Relativity could affect their structure and pulsations substantially. In this work, we present results of relativistic pulsation calculations employing relativistic ultra-massive ONe-core white dwarf models with hydrogen-rich atmospheres and masses ranging from $1.29$ to $1.369 M_{\odot}$ with the aim of assessing the impact of General Relativity on the adiabatic gravity ($g$)-mode period spectrum of very-high mass ZZ Ceti stars. Employing the relativistic Cowling approximation for the pulsation analysis, we find that the critical buoyancy (Brunt-V\"ais\"al\"a) and acoustic (Lamb) frequencies are larger for the relativistic case, compared to the Newtonian case, due to the relativistic white dwarf models having smaller radii and higher gravities for a fixed stellar mass. In addition, the $g$-mode periods are shorter in the relativistic case than in the Newtonian computations, with relative differences of up to $\sim 50$ \% for the highest-mass models ($1.369 M_{\odot}$) and for effective temperatures typical of the ZZ Ceti instability strip. Hence, the effects of General Relativity on the structure, evolution, and pulsations of white dwarfs with masses larger than $\sim 1.29 M_{\odot}$ cannot be ignored in the asteroseismological analysis of ultra-massive ZZ Ceti stars.Comment: 15 pages, 21 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Identification of the TW Hya Association member 2M1235−-39: a tertiary component of the HR 4796 system

The association of the late-type star 2MASS J12354893-3950245 (2M1235-39) with a bright X-ray source detected serendipitously by ROSAT and XMM-Newton, combined with its proximity to the well-studied (A+M binary) system HR 4796, suggests this star is a member of the TW Hya Association (TWA). To test this hypothesis, we used optical spectroscopy to establish the Li and H-alpha line strengths and spectral type of 2M1235-39, and determined its proper motion via optical imaging. The Li absorption and H-alpha emission line strengths of 2M1235-39, its near-IR and X-ray fluxes, and its proper motion all indicate that 2M1235-39 is a TWA member. Most likely this star is a wide (13,500 AU) separation, low-mass (M4.5), tertiary component of the HR 4796 system.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure; accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysic

A white dwarf cooling age of 8 Gyr for NGC 6791 from physical separation processes

NGC 6791 is a well studied open cluster1 that it is so close to us that can be imaged down to very faint luminosities. The main sequence turn-off age (~8 Gyr) and the age derived from the termination of the white dwarf cooling sequence (~6 Gyr) are significantly different. One possible explanation is that as white dwarfs cool, one of the ashes of helium burning, 22Ne, sinks in the deep interior of these stars. At lower temperatures, white dwarfs are expected to crystallise and phase separation of the main constituents of the core of a typical white dwarf, 12C and 16O, is expected to occur. This sequence of events is expected to introduce significant delays in the cooling times, but has not hitherto been proven. Here we report that, as theoretically anticipated, physical separation processes occur in the cores of white dwarfs, solving the age discrepancy for NGC 6791.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, published in Natur

On the origin of high-field magnetic white dwarfs

Every two years, white dwarf researchers and enthusiasts meet to exchange their knowledge and discuss recent developments in white dwarf theory and observations. These proceedings are from the 18th European White Dwarf Workshop held at Pedagogical University of Cracow (Krakow, Poland) on 13th - 17th August, 2012. The scientific topics discussed in this Workshop included: pulsating white dwarfs; luminosity function, mass distribution, and populations; white dwarf structure and evolution; white dwarf catalogs and surveys; central stars of planetary nebulae; supernova progenitors; white dwarfs in novae and cataclysmic variables; white dwarfs in detached binaries; physical processes in white dwarfs and magnetic white dwarfs; and discs, dust and planets around white dwarfs. The conference was organized by four institutions: the Polish Astronomical Society, the Astronomy Department of the Pedagogical University of Cracow, the Jagiellonian University Astronomical Observatory, and the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Altogether, these proceedings include 87 talks and posters presented during the meeting.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Dynamical evolution of boson stars in Brans-Dicke theory

We study the dynamics of a self-gravitating scalar field solitonic object (boson star) in the Jordan-Brans-Dicke (BD) theory of gravity. We show dynamical processes of this system such as (i) black hole formation of perturbed equilibrium configuration on an unstable branch; (ii) migration of perturbed equilibrium configuration from the unstable branch to stable branch; (iii) transition from excited state to a ground state. We find that the dynamical behavior of boson stars in BD theory is quite similar to that in general relativity (GR), with comparable scalar wave emission. We also demonstrate the formation of a stable boson star from a Gaussian scalar field packet with flat gravitational scalar field initial data. This suggests that boson stars can be formed in the BD theory in much the same way as in GR.Comment: 13 pages by RevTeX, epsf.sty, 16 figures, comments added, refs updated, to appear in Phys. Rev.

White dwarf-main-sequence binaries from Gaia EDR3: The unresolved 100 pc volume-limited sample

We use the data provided by the Gaia Early Data Release 3 to search for a highly-complete volume-limited sample of unresolved binaries consisting of a white dwarf and a main sequence companion (i.e. WDMS binaries) within 100 pc. We select 112 objects based on their location within the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, of which 97 are new identifications. We fit their spectral energy distributions (SED) with a two-body fitting algorithm implemented in VOSA (Virtual Observatory SED Analyser) to derive the effective temperatures, luminosities and radii (hence surface gravities and masses) of both componentsARM acknowledges financial support from the MINECO under the Ramón y Cajal program (RYC-2016-20254). ST and ARM acknowledge support from the MINECO under the AYA2017-86274-P grant, and the AGAUR grant SGR-661/2017. ESM and FJE acknowledge financial support from the MINECO under the AYA2017-86274-P grant. FJE acknowledges support from the H2020 ESCAPE project (Grant Agreement no. 824064). LMC, LGA and AHC acknowledge support from AGENCIA through the Programa de Modernización Tecnológica BID 1728/OC-AR, and from CONICET through the PIP 2017-2019 GI grant. This publication makes use of VOSA and SVO DiscTool, developed under the Spanish Virtual Observatory project supported from the Spanish MINECO through grant AyA2017-84089. This research has made use of Aladin sky atlas developed at CDS, Strasbourg Observatory, France (Bonnarel et al. 2000; Boch & Fernique 2014). TOPCAT (Taylor 2005) and STILTS (Taylor 2006) have also been widely used in this paper. We thank the anonymous referee for the helpful suggestions. The authors are greatly indebted to Detlev Koester for sharing his grid of model atmosphere white dwarf spectra. The authors also thank Roberto Raddi for sharing the grid of white dwarf absolute magnitudes calculated for the Gaia EDR3 bandpasses. This work has made use of data from the European Space Agency (ESA) mission Gaia (https://www.cosmos.esa.int/ gaia), processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC, https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dpac/ consortium). Funding for the DPAC has been provided by national institutions, in particular the institutions participating in the Gaia Multilateral AgreementPostprint (updated version