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Hot DQ White Dwarfs: Something Different

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 نشر من قبل Patrick Dufour
 تاريخ النشر 2008
  مجال البحث فيزياء
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We present a detailed analysis of all the known Hot DQ white dwarfs in the Fourth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) recently found to have carbon dominated atmospheres. Our spectroscopic and photometric analysis reveals that these objects all have effective temperatures between ~18,000 and 24,000 K. The surface composition is found to be completely dominated by carbon, as revealed by the absence of Hbeta and HeI 4471 lines (or determination of trace amount in a few cases). We find that the surface gravity of all objects but one seems to be normal and around log g = 8.0 while one is likely near log g = 9.0. The presence of a weak magnetic field is directly detected by spectropolarimetry in one object and is suspected in two others. We propose that these strange stars could be cooled do



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White dwarfs (WDs) with carbon absorption features in their optical spectra are known as DQ WDs. The subclass of peculiar DQ WDs are cool objects (T_eff<6000 K) which show molecular absorption bands that have centroid wavelengths ~100-300 Angstroms s hortward of the bandheads of the C_2 Swan bands. These peculiar DQ bands have been attributed to a hydrocarbon such as C_2H. We point out that C_2H does not show strong absorption bands with wavelengths matching those of the peculiar DQ bands and neither does any other simple molecule or ion likely to be present in a cool WD atmosphere. The most straightforward explanation for the peculiar DQ bands is that they are pressure-shifted Swan bands of C_2. While current models of WD atmospheres suggest that, in general, peculiar DQ WDs do not have higher photospheric pressures than normal DQ WDs do, that finding requires confirmation by improved models of WD atmospheres and of the behavior of C_2 at high pressures and temperatures. If it is eventually shown that the peculiar DQ bands cannot be explained as pressure-shifted Swan bands, the only explanation remaining would seem to be that they arise from highly rotationally excited C_2 (J_peak>45). In either case, the absorption band profiles can in principle be used to constrain the pressure and the rotational temperature of C_2 in the line-forming regions of normal and peculiar DQ WD atmospheres, which will be useful for comparison with models. Finally, we note that progress in understanding magnetic DQ WDs may require models which simultaneously consider magnetic fields, high pressures and rotational excitation of C_2.
Recent studies of the atmospheres of carbon-rich (DQ) white dwarfs have demonstrated the existence of two different populations that are distinguished by the temperature range, but more importantly, by the extremely high masses of the hotter group. T he classical DQ below 10000 K are well understood as the result of dredge-up of carbon by the expanding helium convection zone. The high-mass group poses several problems regarding their origin and also an unexpected correlation of effective temperature with mass. We propose to study the envelopes of these objects to determine the total hydrogen and helium masses as possible clues to their evolution. We developed new codes for envelope integration and diffusive equilibrium that are adapted to the unusual chemical composition, which is not necessarily dominated by hydrogen and helium. Using the new results for the atmospheric parameters, in particular, the masses obtained using Gaia parallaxes, we confirm that the narrow sequence of carbon abundances with Teff in the cool classical DQ is indeed caused by an almost constant helium to total mass fraction, as found in earlier studies. This mass fraction is smaller than predicted by stellar evolution calculations. For the warm DQ above 10000 K, which are thought to originate from double white dwarf mergers, we obtain extremely low hydrogen and helium masses. The correlation of mass with Teff remains unexplained, but another possible correlation of helium layer masses with Teff as well as the gravitational redshifts casts doubt on the reality of both and suggests possible shortcomings of current models.
Among the spectroscopically identified white dwarfs, a fraction smaller than 2% have spectra dominated by carbon lines, mainly molecular C2, but also in a smaller group by CI and CII lines. These are together called DQ white dwarfs. We want to derive atmospheric parameters Teff,log g, and carbon abundances for a large sample of these stars and discuss implications for their spectral evolution. Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectra and ugriz photometry were used, together with GAIA Data Release 2 parallaxes and G band photometry. These were fitted to synthetic spectra and theoretical photometry derived from model atmospheres. We found that the DQs hotter than Teff ~10000 K have masses ~0.4 Msun larger than the cooler ones, which have masses typical for the majority of white dwarfs, ~0.6 Msun. A significant fraction of the hotter objects with Teff > 14500 K have atmospheres dominated by carbon.
We report the discovery of a new class of hydrogen-deficient stars: white dwarfs with an atmosphere primarily composed of carbon, with little or no trace of hydrogen or helium. Our analysis shows that the atmospheric parameters found for these stars do not fit satisfactorily in any of the currently known theories of post-asymptotic giant branch (AGB) evolution, although these objects might be the cooler counter-part of the unique and extensively studied PG 1159 star H1504+65. These stars, together with H1504+65, might thus form a new evolutionary post-AGB sequence.
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