We present the results on period search and modeling of the cool DAV star KUV 02464+3239. Our observations resolved the multiperiodic pulsational behaviour of the star. In agreement with its position near the red edge of the DAV instability strip, it shows large amplitude, long period pulsation modes, and has a strongly non-sinusoidal light curve. We determined 6 frequencies as normal modes and revealed remarkable short-term amplitude variations. A rigorous test was performed for the possible source of amplitude variation: beating of modes, effect of noise, unresolved frequencies or rotational triplets. Among the best-fit models resulting from a grid search, we selected 3 that gave l=1 solutions for the largest amplitude modes. These models had masses of 0.645, 0.650 and 0.680 M_Sun. The 3 `favoured' models have M_H between 2.5x10^-5 - 6.3x10^-6 M_* and give 14.2 - 14.8 mas seismological parallax. The 0.645 M_Sun (11400 K) model also matches the spectroscopic log g and T_eff within 1 sigma. We investigated the possibility of mode trapping and concluded that while it can explain high amplitude modes, it is not required.
KUV 11370+4222 is a ZZ Ceti star discovered in 1996, which has not been observed since then. We performed observations for KUV 11370+4222 in 2010 January. From the Fourier transform spectrum of the light curves, ten independent modes are detected. We searched for the best-fitting model by using the observed periods to match the model periods and get it with the total mass of 0.625 ${\rm M_{\odot}}$, the effective temperature of 10950 K, and the helium mass fraction and hydrogen mass fraction of $10^{-2.2}$ and $10^{-4.0}$, respectively. We have found a triplet of frequency split by rotation, w…
Asteroseismology is a unique tool to explore the internal structure of stars through both observational and theoretical research. The internal structure of pulsating hydrogen shell white dwarfs (ZZ Ceti stars) detected by asteroseismology is regarded as the representative of all DA white dwarfs. Observations for KUV~08368+4026, which locates in the middle of the ZZ Ceti instability strip, have been carried out in 1999 and from 2009 to 2012 with either single-site runs or multisite campaigns. Time-series photometric data of about 300 hours were collected in total. Through data reduction and ana…
Context: KUV 05134+2605 is one of the 21 pulsating DB white dwarfs (V777 Her or DBV variables) known so far. The detailed investigation of the short-period and low-amplitude pulsations of these relatively faint targets requires considerable observational efforts from the ground, long-term single-site or multisite observations. The observed amplitudes of excited modes undergo short-term variations in many cases, which makes the determination of pulsation modes difficult. Methods: We re-analysed the data already published, and collected new measurements. We compared the frequency content of the …
We present a large bank of chemical profiles and pulsation periods suited for asteroseismological studies of ZZ Ceti (or DAV) variable stars. Our background equilibrium DA white dwarf models are the result of fully evolutionary computations that take into account the complete history of the progenitor stars from the ZAMS. The models are characterized by self-consistent chemical structures from the centre to the surface, and cover a wide range of stellar masses, effective temperatures, and H envelope thicknesses. We present dipole and quadrupole pulsation $g$-mode periods comfortably covering t…
ZZ Ceti stars are pulsating white dwarfs with a carbon-oxygen core (or possibly ONe for the most massive stars) build up during the core helium burning (CHeB) and thermally pulsing Asymptotic Giant Branch (TP-AGB) phases. Through the interpretation of their pulsation periods by means of asteroseismology, details about their origin and evolution can be inferred. The whole pulsation spectrum exhibited by ZZ Ceti stars strongly depend on the inner chemical structure. At present, there are several processes affecting the chemical profiles that are still not accurately determined. We present a stud…
ZZ Ceti stars are pulsating white dwarfs with a carbon-oxygen core build up during the core helium burning and thermally pulsing Asymptotic Giant Branch phases. Through the interpretation of their pulsation periods by means of asteroseismology, details about their origin and evolution can be inferred. The whole pulsation spectrum exhibited by ZZ Ceti stars strongly depends on the inner chemical structure. At present, there are several processes affecting the chemical profiles that are still not accurately determined. We present a study of the impact of the current uncertainties of the white dw…
We present the results of a comparative period search on different time-scales and modelling of the ZZ Ceti (DAV) star GD 154. We determined six frequencies as normal modes and four rotational doublets around the ones having the largest amplitude. Two normal modes at 807.62 and 861.56 microHz have never been reported before. A rigorous test revealed remarkable intrinsic amplitude variability of frequencies at 839.14 and 861.56 microHz over a 50 d time-scale. In addition, the multimode pulsation changed to monoperiodic pulsation with an 843.15 microHz dominant frequency at the end of the observ…
We summarize our findings on three cool ZZ Ceti type pulsating white dwarfs. We determined eight independent modes in HS 0733+4119, of which seven are new findings. For GD 154, we detected two new eigenmodes, and the recurrence of the pulsational behaviour first observed in 1977. We discuss that GD 154 does not only vary its pulsations between a multiperiodic and a quasi-monoperiodic phase, but there are also differences between the relative amplitudes of the near-subharmonics observed in the latter phase. In the complex pulsator, Ross 808, we compared the pre- and post Whole Earth Telescope c…
We present the Kepler light curve of KIC 4552982, the first ZZ Ceti (hydrogen-atmosphere pulsating white dwarf star) discovered in the Kepler field of view. Our data span more than 1.5 years with a 86% duty cycle, making it the longest pseudo-continuous light curve ever recorded for a ZZ Ceti. This extensive data set provides the most complete coverage to-date of amplitude and frequency variations in a cool ZZ Ceti. We detect 20 independent frequencies of variability in the data that we compare with asteroseismic models to demonstrate that this star has a mass M$_*$ > 0.6 M$_{\rm Sun}$. We ide…
Context. We continued our ground-based observing project with the season-long observations of ZZ Ceti stars at Konkoly Observatory. Our present targets are the newly discovered PM J22299+3024, and the already known LP 119-10 variables. LP 119-10 was also observed by the TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) space telescope in 120-second cadence mode. Methods. We performed standard Fourier analysis of the daily, weekly, and the whole data sets, together with test data of different combinations of weekly observations. We then performed asteroseismic fits utilising the observed and the cal…
We carried out a new and sensitive search for long-period variability in the prototype of the Mira class of long-period pulsating variables, o Ceti (Mira A), the closest and brightest Mira variable. We conducted this search using an unbroken light curve from 1902 to the present, assembled from the visual data archives of five major variable star observing organizations from around the world. We applied several time-series analysis techniques to search for two specific kinds of variability: long secondary periods (LSPs) longer than the dominant pulsation period of ~333 days, and long-term perio…
We present our results on the continuation of our survey searching for new ZZ Ceti stars, inspired by the recently launched TESS space mission. The seven targets were bright DA-type white dwarfs located close to the empirical ZZ Ceti instability strip. We successfully identified one new pulsator candidate, namely PM J22299+3024, derived detection limits for possible pulsations of four objects for the first time, and determined new detection limits for two targets.
Context. We present our findings on 18 formerly known ZZ Ceti stars observed by the TESS space telescope in 120s cadence mode during the survey observation of the southern ecliptic hemisphere. Aims. We focus on the frequency analysis of the space-based observations, comparing the results with the findings of the previous ground-based measurements. The frequencies detected by the TESS observations can serve as inputs for future asteroseismic analyses. Methods. We performed standard pre-whitening of the data sets to derive the possible pulsation frequencies of the different targets. In some case…
We compute new chemical profiles for the core and envelope of white dwarfs appropriate for pulsational studies of ZZ Ceti stars. These profiles are extracted from the complete evolution of progenitor stars, evolved through the main sequence and the thermally-pulsing asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stages, and from time-dependent element diffusion during white dwarf evolution. We discuss the importance of the initial-final mass relationship for the white dwarf carbon-oxygen composition. In particular, we find that the central oxygen abundance may be underestimated by about 15% if the white dwarf …
Previous studies of GD 244 revealed seven pulsation frequencies (two doublets and three single periods) in the light variations of the star. The data obtained at McDonald Observatory between 2003 and 2006, and our additional measurements in 2006 and 2007 at Konkoly Observatory, allow the investigation of the long-term pulsational behaviour of GD 244. We found that the 307.1 s period component of one of the doublets show long-term, periodic amplitude modulation with a time scale of ~740 days. Possible explanations are that nonlinear resonant mode coupling is operating among the rotationally spl…
Element diffusion is a key physical process that substantially impacts the superficial abundances, internal structure, pulsation properties, and evolution of white dwarfs. We study the effect of Coulomb separation of ions in the cooling times of evolving white dwarfs, their chemical profiles, the Brunt-Väisälä (buoyancy) frequency, and the pulsational periods at the ZZ Ceti instability strip. We follow the full evolution of white-dwarf models derived from their progenitor history on the basis of a time-dependent element diffusion scheme that incorporates the effect of gravitational settling of…
The thermally pulsing phase on the asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) is the last nuclear burning phase experienced by most of low and intermediate mass stars. During this phase, the outer chemical stratification above the C/O core of the emerging white dwarf is built up. The chemical structure resulting from progenitor evolution strongly impacts the whole pulsation spectrum exhibited by ZZ Ceti stars, which are pulsating C/O core white dwarfs located on an narrow instability strip at T eff \sim 12000 K. Several physical processes occurring during progenitor evolution strongly affect the chemica…
We report the discovery of the second pulsating hydrogen-rich (DA) white dwarf in the $Kepler$ field, KIC11911480. It was selected from the $Kepler$-INT Survey (KIS) on the basis of its colours and its variable nature was confirmed using ground-based time-series photometry. An atmosphere model fit to an intermediate-resolution spectrum of KIC11911480 places this DA white dwarf close to the blue edge of the empirical boundaries of the ZZ Ceti instability strip: $T_\mathrm{eff} = 12\,160 \pm 250$ K and $\log{g} = 7.94 \pm 0.10 $. Assuming a mass-radius relation and cooling models for DA white dw…
Using the SOAR 4.1 m telescope, we report on the discovery of low amplitude pulsations for three stars previously reported as Not-Observed-to-Vary (NOV) by Mukadam et al. (2004) and Mullally et al. (2005), which are inside the ZZ Ceti instability strip. With the two pulsators discovered by Castanheira et al. (2007), we have now found variability in a total of five stars previously reported as NOVs. We also report the variability of eight new pulsating stars, not previously observed, bringing the total number of known ZZ Ceti stars to 148. In addition, we lowered the detection limit for ten NOV…
ZZ Ceti stars form the most numerous group of degenerate variable stars. They are otherwise normal DA (H-rich atmospheres) white dwarfs that exhibit pulsations. Here, we present an asteroseismological analysis for 44 bright ZZ Ceti stars based on a new set of fully evolutionary DA white dwarf models characterized by detailed chemical profiles from the centre to the surface. One of our targets is the archetypal ZZ Ceti star G117$-$B15A, for which we obtain an asteroseismological model with an effective temperature and a surface gravity in excellent agreement with the spectroscopy. The asterosei…
G 207-9 and LP 133-144 are two rarely observed ZZ Ceti stars located in the middle and close to the blue edge of the ZZ Ceti instability domain, respectively. We aimed to observe them at least during one observing season at Konkoly Observatory with the purpose of extending the list of known pulsation modes for asteroseismic investigations and detect any significant changes in their pulsational behaviour. We determined five and three new normal modes of G 207-9 and LP 133-144, respectively. In LP 133-144, our frequency analysis also revealed that at least at three modes there are actually tripl…
We present the results of our detailed light curve analysis of the ZZ Ceti star HS 1625+1231. We collected photometric time series data at Konkoly Observatory on 14 nights, and performed Fourier analysis of these data sets. We detected 11 significant frequencies, where six of them are found to be independent pulsation modes in the 514 - 881 s period range. By utilising these frequencies, we performed preliminary asteroseismic investigations to give constraints on the main physical parameters, and to derive seismic distances for the star. Finally, we compared the astrometric distance provided b…
Helium core white dwarfs (WDs) with mass M <~ 0.20 Msun undergo several Gyrs of stable hydrogen burning as they evolve. We show that in a certain range of WD and hydrogen envelope masses, these WDs may exhibit g-mode pulsations similar to their passively cooling, more massive carbon/oxygen core counterparts, the ZZ Cetis. Our models with stably burning hydrogen envelopes on helium cores yield g-mode periods and period spacings longer than the canonical ZZ Cetis by nearly a factor of 2. We show that core composition and structure can be probed using seismology since the g-mode eigenfunctions pr…
Context. Thanks to photometric space missions, we have access to more and more information on the properties of white dwarf stars, especially pulsating ones. In the case of pulsators, we have the opportunity to get an insight into their otherwise hidden interiors by the means of asteroseismology. In addition to space-based observations, we also take advantage of the opportunity to study the pulsations of white dwarf stars from the ground, either as observations that are complementary to space-based measurements or individual observing runs on selected targets across long timescales. Aims. We a…
We present results of a 2014-2018 campaign of radial velocity measurements of $δ$ Ceti. Combining our determination of pulsation period with historical data we conclude that the most likely explanation of observed changes is the presence of a secondary component with a minimum mass of $1.10 \pm 0.05 M_{\odot}$ on an orbit with a period of $169 \pm 6$ years. Consequently, we revised the intrinsic, evolutionary period change rate to not larger than $0.018 \pm 0.004$ s/century, which is significantly lower than previous estimations and is consistent with evolutionary models of Neilson & Ignace (2…
About half of the hot subdwarfs are found to have spectra of composite types, indicating a main sequence companion of spectral type F-K, and the pulsators are no exception to this rule. The spectroscopic contamination from the main sequence stars makes it hard to reliably establish physical parameters for the hot component, and also makes pulsations harder to detect as the amplitudes are depressed. The binary fraction of the observed sample of hot subdwarf pulsators is discussed, as are the biases that are affecting it. Spectroscopic evidence is presented that clearly demonstrates that the wel…
B, V, i, and z bandpass observations were collected in late 2020 for three RRab type stars: UU Ceti, UW Gruis, and W Tucanae. The period-luminosity (PL) relationships of Catalen et al. (2004) and Caceres \& Catelan (2008) were applied to derive distances. These were found to be in reasonable agreement with the Gaia Early DR3 distances, lending confidence to use of the PL relationships. Fourier decompositions were applied to data from the TESS space telescope to derive, using stepwise linear regression, an empirical relationship between terms of the decomposition and the pulsation period with m…
With typical periods of order 10 minutes, the pulsation signatures of ZZ Ceti variables (pulsating hydrogen-atmosphere white dwarf stars) are severely undersampled by long-cadence (29.42 minutes per exposure) K2 observations. Nyquist aliasing renders the intrinsic frequencies ambiguous, stifling precision asteroseismology. We report the discovery of two new ZZ Cetis in long-cadence K2 data: EPIC 210377280 and EPIC 220274129. Guided by 3-4 nights of follow-up, high-speed (<=30 s) photometry from McDonald Observatory, we recover accurate pulsation frequencies for K2 signals that reflected 4-5 ti…
We perform an asteroseismological study on the DAV star G117-B15A on the basis of a modern set of fully evolutionary DA white dwarf models that have consistent chemical profiles at the core and the envelope. We found an asteroseismological model for G117-B15A that closely reproduces its observed pulsation periods. Then, we use the most recently measured value of the rate of period change for the dominant mode of this pulsating star to impose a preliminary upper limit to the mass of the axion.
The ZZ Ceti star KUV 02464+3239 was observed over a whole season at the mountain station of Konkoly Observatory. A rigorous frequency analysis revealed 6 certain periods between 619 and 1250 seconds, with no shorter period modes present. We use the observed periods, published effective temperature and surface gravity, along with the model grid code of Bischoff-Kim, Montgomery and Winget (2008) to perform a seismological analysis. We find acceptable model fits with masses between 0.60 and 0.70 M_Sun. The hydrogen layer mass of the acceptable models are almost always between 10^-4 and 10^-6 M_*.…
Asteroseismology of the ZZ Ceti star WD 1310+583 using the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite
HUN-REN Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences（匈牙利研究科学院天文学与地球科学研究中心）；KU Leuven（荷语鲁汶大学）；Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plata, IALP (CCT La Plata), CONICET-UNLP（拉普拉塔天文物理研究所，拉普拉塔国家科研委员会-拉普拉塔国立大学）；Universidad Nacional de La Plata（拉普拉塔国立大学）；University of Warwick（华威大学）；University of Texas at Austin（德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校）；McDonald Observatory（麦克唐纳天文台）
We present the first asteroseismological study for 42 massive ZZ Ceti stars based on a large set of fully evolutionary carbon$-$oxygen core DA white dwarf models characterized by a detailed and consistent chemical inner profile for the core and the envelope. Our sample comprise all the ZZ Ceti stars with spectroscopic stellar masses between 0.72 and $1.05M_{\odot}$ known to date. The asteroseismological analysis of a set of 42 stars gives the possibility to study the ensemble properties of the massive pulsating white dwarf stars with carbon$-$oxygen cores, in particular the thickness of the hy…
We present our preliminary results on the asteroseismological investigations of the ZZ Ceti star GD 244. We used literature values of the effective temperature and surface gravity and utilized the White Dwarf Evolution Code of Bischoff-Kim, Montgomery and Winget (2008, ApJ, 675, 1512) to build our model grid for the seismological analysis. Five observed pulsational modes published up to now were used to find acceptable model solutions. We found that the best model fits have masses between 0.61 and 0.74 M_solar and constitute two groups with hydrogen layer masses of either ~10^{-5} or 10^{-6} M…
We combine all the reliably-measured eigenperiods for hot, short-period ZZ Ceti stars onto one diagram and show that it has the features expected from evolutionary and pulsation theory. To make a more detailed comparison with theory we concentrate on a subset of 16 stars for which rotational splitting or other evidence gives clues to the spherical harmonic index (l) of the modes. The suspected l=1 periods in this subset of stars form a pattern of consecutive radial overtones that allow us to conduct ensemble seismology using published theoretical model grids. We find that the best-matching mod…
Context. Asteroseismology is an effcient tool not only for testing stellar structure and evolutionary theory but also constraining the parameters of stars for which solar-like oscillations are detected, presently. As an important southern asteroseismic target, Tau Ceti, is a metal-poor star. The main features of the oscillations and some frequencies of ? Ceti have been identified. Many scientists propose to comprehensively observe this star as part of the Stellar Observations Network Group. Aims. Our goal is to obtain the optimal model and reliable fundamental parameters for the metal-poor sta…
We report the discovery of the second and third pulsating extremely low mass white dwarfs (WDs), SDSS J111215.82+111745.0 (hereafter J1112) and SDSS J151826.68+065813.2 (hereafter J1518). Both have masses < 0.25 Msun and effective temperatures below 10,000 K, establishing these putatively He-core WDs as a cooler class of pulsating hydrogen-atmosphere WDs (DAVs, or ZZ Ceti stars). The short-period pulsations evidenced in the light curve of J1112 may also represent the first observation of acoustic (p-mode) pulsations in any WD, which provide an exciting opportunity to probe this WD in a complim…
An increasing number of white dwarf stars show atmospheric chemical composition polluted by heavy elements accreted from debris disk material. The existence of such debris disks strongly suggests the presence of one or more planet(s) whose gravitational interaction with rocky planetesimals is responsible for their disruption by tidal effect. The ZZ Ceti pulsator and polluted DAZ white dwarf GD 133 is a good candidate for searching for such a potential planet. We started in 2011 a photometric follow-up of its pulsations. As a result of this work in progress, we used the data gathered from 2011 …
Asteroseismology of DAV stars (ZZ Ceti variables) can provide valuable clues about the origin, structure and evolution of DA (atmospheres rich in H) white dwarfs. Recently, a new DAV star, WD J191643.83+393849.7, has been discovered in the field of the Kepler spacecraft. It is expected that further monitoring of this star in the next years will enable astronomers to obtain the best lightcurve of a pulsating DA white dwarf ever recorded, and thus to know with unprecedented precision the hidden details of the internal structure of this star. In this paper, we perform a first asteroseismological …
Ultra-massive DA WD stars are expected to harbor ONe cores resulting from the progenitor evolution through the Super-AGB phase. As evolution proceeds during the WD cooling phase, a crystallization process resulting from Coulomb interactions in very dense plasmas is expected to occur, leading to the formation of a highly crystallized core. Pulsating ultra-massive WDs offer a unique opportunity to infer and test the occurrence of crystallization in WD interiors as well as physical processes related with dense plasmas. We aim to assess the adiabatic pulsation properties of ultra-massive DA WD wit…
The ZZ Ceti star GD 1212 was detected to have 19 independent modes from the two-wheel-controlled Kepler Spacecraft in 2014. By asymptotic analysis, we identify most of pulsation modes. We find out two set of complete triplets, and four sets of doublet which are interpreted as rotation modes with $l=1$. For the other five modes, the four modes $f_{13}$, $f_{15}$, $f_{16}$ and $f_{4}$ are identified as ones with $l=2$; and the mode $f_{7}$ is identified to be the one with $l=1$. Meanwhile we derive a mean rotation period of $6.65\pm0.21$ h for GD 1212 according to the rotation splitting. Using t…
In the spectra of pulsating stars, especially Mira stars, the detection of intense hydrogen emission lines has been explained by a radiative shock wave, periodically propagating throughout the atmosphere. Previous observation of the Mira star omicron Ceti around a bright maximum of light led to the detection of a strong linear polarization associated to Balmer emissions, although the origin of this phenomenon is not fully explained yet. With the help of spectropolarimetry, we propose to investigate the nature of shock waves propagating throughout the stellar atmosphere and present, for omicron…
We report the discovery of four massive ($M > 0.8\,M_\odot$) ZZ Ceti white dwarfs, including an ultramassive $1.16\,M_\odot$ star. We obtained ground based, time-series photometry for thirteen white dwarfs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 and Data Release 10 whose atmospheric parameters place them within the ZZ Ceti instability strip. We detect mono-periodic pulsations in three of our targets (J1053, J1554, and J2038) and identify three periods of pulsation in J0840 (173, 327, and 797 s). Fourier analysis of the remaining nine objects do not indicate variability above the $4\la…
Ultra-massive H-rich (DA spectral type) white dwarf stars ($M_{\star} > 1.05 M_{\odot}$) are expected to be substantially crystallized by the time they reach the ZZ Ceti instability strip ($T_{\rm eff} \sim 12\,000$ K). Crystallization leads to a separation of $^{16}$O and $^{20}$Ne (or $^{12}$C and $^{16}$O) in the core of ultra-massive WDs, which strongly impacts their pulsational properties. An additional factor to take into account when modeling the evolution and pulsations of WDs in this range of masses are the relativistic effects, which induce changes in the cooling times and the stella…
We aimed at collecting all known white dwarf pulsators with hydrogen-dominated atmospheres and list their main photometric and atmospheric parameters together with their pulsation periods and amplitudes observed at different epochs. For this purpose, we explored the pulsating white dwarf related literature with the systematic use of the SIMBAD and the NASA's Astrophysics Data System (ADS) databases. We summarized our results in four tables listing seven ZZ Ceti stars in detached white dwarf plus main-sequence binaries, seven extremely low-mass DA pulsators, three hot DAVs and 180 ZZ Ceti stars…
The recent plethora of sky surveys, especially the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, have discovered many low-mass (M < 0.45 Msun) white dwarfs that should have cores made of nearly pure helium. These WDs come in two varieties; those with masses 0.2 < M < 0.45 Msun and H envelopes so thin that they rapidly cool, and those with M < 0.2 Msun (often called extremely low mass, ELM, WDs) that have thick enough H envelopes to sustain 10^9 years of H burning. In both cases, these WDs evolve through the ZZ Ceti instability strip, Teff = 9,000-12,000 K, where g-mode pulsations always occur in Carbon/Oxygen WDs…
Asteroseismology is a powerful tool to infer the evolutionary status and chemical stratification of white dwarf (WD) stars, and to explore the physical processes that lead to their formation. This is particularly true for the variable H-rich atmosphere (DA) WDs, known as DAV or ZZ Ceti stars. We present a new grid of DA WD models that take into account the last advances in the modeling and input physics of both the progenitor and the WD stars, thus avoiding and improving several shortcomings present in the set of DA WD models employed in the asteroseismological analyses of ZZ Ceti stars we car…
The formation of silicate dust in oxygen-rich envelopes of evolved stars is thought to be initiated by formation of seed particles that can withstand the high temperatures close to the stellar photosphere and act as condensation cores farther away from the star. Candidate species considered as first condensates are TiO and TiO$_2$. We aim to identify and characterize the circumstellar gas-phase chemistry of titanium that leads to the formation of solid titanium compounds in the envelope of $o$ Cet, the prototypical Mira, and seek an observational verification of whether titanium oxides play a …
Ultra-massive hydrogen-rich (DA spectral type) white dwarf (WD) stars ($M_{\star} > 1M_{\odot}$) coming from single-star evolution are expected to harbor cores made of $^{16}$O and $^{20}$Ne, resulting from semi-degenerate carbon burning when the progenitor star evolves through the super asymptotic giant branch (S-AGB) phase. These stars are expected to be crystallized by the time they reach the ZZ Ceti instability strip ($T_{\rm eff} \sim 12\,500$ K). Theoretical models predict that crystallization leads to a separation of $^{16}$O and $^{20}$Ne in the core of ultra-massive WDs, which impacts…
We employ a state-of-the-art asteroseismological model of G117-B15A, the archetype of the H-rich atmosphere (DA) white dwarf pulsators (also known as DAV or ZZ Ceti variables), and use the most recently measured value of the rate of period change for the dominant mode of this pulsating star to derive a new constraint on the mass of axion, the still conjectural non-barionic particle considered as candidate for dark matter of the Universe. Assuming that G117-B15A is truly represented by our asteroseismological model, and in particular, that the period of the dominant mode is associated to a puls…
We employ an asteroseismic model of L19-2, a relatively massive ($M_{\star} \sim 0.75 M_{\sun}$) and hot ($T_{\rm eff} \sim 12\,100$ K) pulsating DA (H-rich atmosphere) white dwarf star (DAV or ZZ Ceti variable), and use the observed values of the temporal rates of period change of its dominant pulsation modes ($Π\sim 113$ s and $Π\sim 192$ s), to derive a new constraint on the mass of the axion, the hypothetical non-barionic particle considered as a possible component of the dark matter of the Universe. If the asteroseismic model employed is an accurate representation of L19-2, then our resul…
We present photometry and spectroscopy for 27 pulsating hydrogen-atmosphere white dwarfs (DAVs, a.k.a. ZZ Ceti stars) observed by the Kepler space telescope up to K2 Campaign 8, an extensive compilation of observations with unprecedented duration (>75 days) and duty cycle (>90%). The space-based photometry reveals pulsation properties previously inaccessible to ground-based observations. We observe a sharp dichotomy in oscillation mode linewidths at roughly 800 s, such that white dwarf pulsations with periods exceeding 800 s have substantially broader mode linewidths, more reminiscent of a dam…
