We present a comparison of low-resolution spectra of 60 stars covering the whole M-dwarf sequence. Using the most recent PHOENIX BT-Settl stellar model atmospheres (see paper by F. Allard, in this book) we do a first quantitative compari- son to our observed spectra in the wavelength range 550-950 nm. We perform a first confrontation between models and observations and we assign an effective tempera- tures to the observed M-dwarfs. Teff-spectral type relations are then compared with the published ones. This comparison also aims at improving the models' opacities.
In this work we present a grid of LTE and non-LTE synthetic spectra of hot DA white dwarfs (WDs). In addition to its usefulness for the determination of fundamental stellar parameters of isolated WDs and in binaries, this grid will be of interest for the construction of theoretical libraries for stellar studies from integrated light. The spectral grid covers both a wide temperature and gravity range, with 17,000 K <= T_eff <= 100,000 K and 7.0 <= log(g) <= 9.5. The stellar models are built for pure hydrogen and the spectra cover a wavelength range from 900 A to 2.5 microns. Additionally, we de…
Novae are some of the most commonly detected optical transients and have the potential to provide valuable information about binary evolution. Binary population synthesis codes have emerged as the most effective tool for modelling populations of binary systems, but such codes have traditionally employed greatly simplified nova physics, precluding detailed study. In this work, we implement a model treating H and He novae as individual events into the binary population synthesis code \binaryc. This treatment of novae represents a significant improvement on the `averaging' treatment currently emp…
The formation histories of lithium-rich and carbon-rich red giants are not yet understood. It has been proposed that the merger of a helium-core white dwarf with a red giant branch star might provide a solution. We have computed an extended grid of post-merger evolution models and combined these with predictions of binary star population synthesis. The results strongly support the proposal that the merger of a helium white dwarf with a red giant branch star can provide the progenitors of both lithium-rich red clump stars and early-R carbon stars. The distribution of post-merger models in $T_{\…
The $Gaia$ mission has provided an unprecedented wealth of information about the white dwarf population of our Galaxy. In particular, our studies show that the sample up to 100\,pc from the Sun can be considered as practically complete. This fact allows us to estimate a precise fraction of double-degenerate ($1.18\pm 0.10$\%) and white dwarf plus main-sequence stars ($6.31\pm0.23$\%) among all white dwarfs through comoving pairs identification. With the aid of a detailed population synthesis code we are able to reproduce synthetic white dwarf populations with nearly identical fractions as the …
As a result of competing physical mechanisms, the atmospheric composition of white dwarfs changes throughout their evolution, a process known as spectral evolution. Because of the ambiguity of their atmospheric compositions and the difficulties inherent to the modeling of their dense atmospheres, no consensus exists regarding the spectral evolution of cool white dwarfs ($T_{\rm eff}<6000$ K). In the previous papers of this series, we presented and observationally validated a new generation of cool white dwarf atmosphere models that include all the necessary constitutive physics to accurately m…
The scarcity of white dwarf-brown dwarf binaries in the solar neighbourhood: A population synthesis study
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya（加泰罗尼亚理工大学）；Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya（加泰罗尼亚空间研究所）；University of Leicester（莱斯特大学）；Sun Yat-sen University（中山大学）；CSST Science Center for the Guangdong-HongKong-Macau Great Bay Area, Sun Yat-sen University（中山大学粤港澳大湾区嫦娥科学中心）；Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院云南天文台）；International Centre of Supernovae, Yunnan Key Laboratory（云南省超新星国际研究中心）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）
We report an independent spectral classification of a sample of poorly studied M-dwarf candidate stars observed with the OSIRIS instrument at GTC. Our project was carried out as an independent test of the spectral classification. It is crucial for the studies of extrasolar planets orbiting M-dwarfs, since properties of the host star are directly related to understanding the planet properties and possible habitability. Understanding of the statistical properties of the dwarf stars is also crucial for the Simple Stellar Population models that play a major role in the modern astrophysics. Halpha …
Since the Gaia data release 2, several works were published describing a bifurcation in the observed white dwarf colour$-$magnitude diagram for $\mbox{$G_{\mathrm{BP}}$}-\mbox{$G_{\mathrm{RP}}$} > 0$. Some possible explanations in the literature include the existence of a double population with different initial mass function or two distinct populations, one formed by hydrogen$-$ and one formed by helium$-$envelope white dwarfs. We propose instead spectral evolution to explain the bifurcation. From a population synthesis approach, we find that the spectral evolution occurs for effective temper…
Many brown dwarfs exhibit photometric variability at levels from tenths to tens of percents. The photometric variability is related to magnetic activity or patchy cloud coverage, characteristic of brown dwarfs near the L-T transition. Time-resolved spectral monitoring of brown dwarfs provides diagnostics of cloud distribution and condensate properties. However, current time-resolved spectral studies of brown dwarfs are limited to low spectral resolution (R$\sim$100) with the exception of the study of Luhman 16 AB at resolution of 100,000 using the VLT$+$CRIRES. This work yielded the first map …
Hubble Space Telescope Imaging and Spectral Analysis of Two Brown Dwarf Binaries at the L Dwarf/T Dwarf Transition
我们提出了一个详细的检查棕矮星倍数2 MASS J 08503593 +1057156和2 MASS J17281150+3948593，都怀疑窝藏组件跨越L矮/T矮过渡。哈勃太空望远镜/NICMOS的测光结果显示，两颗恒星的相对颜色呈现相反的趋势，2 MASS J 0850 +1057的次级恒星比其初级恒星更红，而2 MASS J1728+3948的次级恒星则更蓝。我们确定近红外组件类型相匹配的组合光，近红外光谱数据的二元模板，与组分光谱缩放到解决NICMOS和Kp光度。推断出2 MASS J 0850 +1057的L7 + L 6和2 MASS J1728+3948的L5 + L6.5的组合。值得注意的是，2 MASS J 0850 +1057的主星似乎比它的次级星有一个较晚的类型分类，尽管它在近红外线上比次级星亮0.8-1.2等，而2 MASS J1728+3948的主星在其组合光光学分类上异常早。与绝对星等/光谱类型趋势的比较也区分了这些分量，2 MASS J 0850 + 1057 A比同等分类的场对应物亮约1等，2 MASS J1728+ 3948 A比同等分类的场对应物暗约0.5等。我们推断，厚厚的凝结云可能是2 MASS J1728+ 3948 A的不寻常特性的原因，而2 MASS J 0850 + 1057 A要么是一颗膨胀的年轻棕矮星，要么是一颗紧密的未解析双星…
Spectral Analyses Of The Hottest White Dwarfs: Grids Of Spectral Energy Distributions For Extremely Hot, Compact Stars In The Framework Of The Virtual Observatory
In the framework of our extensive modeling study of the spectral evolution of white dwarfs, we present here a new set of detailed calculations of the transport of residual hydrogen in helium-rich white dwarfs. First, we investigate the so-called float-up process at high effective temperature, whereby the upward diffusion of trace hydrogen leads to the formation of a hydrogen atmosphere. We examine the dependence of this phenomenon on the initial hydrogen abundance and on the strength of the radiative wind that opposes gravitational settling. Combined with our empirical knowledge of spectral ev…
White dwarf stars are subject to various element transport mechanisms that can cause their surface composition to change radically as they cool, a phenomenon known as spectral evolution. In this paper, we undertake a comprehensive theoretical investigation of the spectral evolution of white dwarfs. First, we introduce STELUM, a new implementation of the stellar evolutionary code developed at the Université de Montréal. We provide a thorough description of the physical content and numerical techniques of the code, covering the treatment of both stellar evolution and chemical transport. Then, we…
As they evolve, white dwarfs undergo major changes in surface composition, a phenomenon known as spectral evolution. In particular, some stars enter the cooling sequence with helium atmospheres (type DO) but eventually develop hydrogen atmospheres (type DA), most likely through the upward diffusion of residual hydrogen. Our empirical knowledge of this process remains scarce: the fractions of white dwarfs that are born helium-rich and that experience the DO-to-DA transformation are poorly constrained. We tackle this issue by performing a detailed model-atmosphere investigation of 1806 hot ($T_{…
Metallicity and Temperature Indicators in M dwarf K band Spectra: Testing New & Updated Calibrations With Observations of 133 Solar Neighborhood M dwarfs
White dwarfs with metal lines in their spectra act as signposts for post-main sequence planetary systems. Searching the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data release 12, we have identified 231 cool (<9000 K) DZ white dwarfs with strong metal absorption, extending the DZ cooling sequence to both higher metal abundances, lower temperatures, and hence longer cooler ages. Of these 231 systems, 104 are previously unknown white dwarfs. Compared with previous work, our spectral fitting uses improved model atmospheres with updated line profiles and line-lists, which we use to derive effective temperatu…
We present a study of the hypothesis that white dwarfs undergo a spectral change from hydrogen- to helium-dominated atmospheres using a volume-limited photometric sample drawn from the $Gaia$ DR2 catalogue, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the $Galaxy~Evolution~Explorer$ (GALEX). We exploit the strength of the Balmer jump in hydrogen-atmosphere DA white dwarfs to separate them from helium-dominated objects in SDSS colour space. Across the effective temperature range from 20000K to 9000K we find that 22% of white dwarfs will undergo a spectral change, with no spectral evolution being rul…
New spectra of 81 ultracool dwarfs (spectral types M7 and later) are discussed. Spectral classifications of 49 objects are available in the literature, while 32 objects are newly classified. The known spectral types were used to test an automated classification scheme, which relies primarily on template fitting, supplemented by matching of spectral indices calibrated against the template spectra. An attempt was made to quantify the uncertainty in the spectral types, which is generally better than two subclasses. Objects for which spectral types differ by more than one subclass from the literat…
We combine 131 new medium-resolution (R~2000) J-band spectra of M, L, and T dwarfs from the Keck NIRSPEC Brown Dwarf Spectroscopic Survey (BDSS) with 97 previously published BDSS spectra to study surface-gravity-sensitive indices for 228 low-mass stars and brown dwarfs spanning spectral types M5-T9. Specifically, we use an established set of spectral indices to determine surface gravity classifications for all M6-L7 objects in our sample by measuring equivalent widths (EW) of the K I lines at 1.1692, 1.1778, 1.2529 um, and the 1.2 um FeHJ absorption index. Our results are consistent with previ…
M dwarfs are the most common type of star in the Galaxy, and because of their small size are favored targets for searches of Earth-sized transiting exoplanets. Current and upcoming all-sky spectroscopic surveys, such as the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST), offer an opportunity to systematically determine physical properties of many more M dwarfs than has been previously possible. Here we present new effective temperatures, radii, masses, and luminosities for 29,678 M dwarfs with spectral types M0-M6 in the first data release (DR1) of LAMOST. We derived these …
We present results from a near infrared survey of the He I line (10830 Angstrom) in cool dwarf stars taken with the PHOENIX spectrograph at the 4-m Mayall telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Spectral synthesis of this region reproduces some but not all atomic and molecular features. The equivalent width of the He line appears directly correlated with the soft X-ray stellar surface flux except among the coolest M dwarf stars, where the helium is surprisingly weak.
Brown dwarfs undergo little change in near-infrared luminosity while cooling from L to T spectral types, making the L/T transition (spectral types $\approx$L9--T6) an ideal region to examine the differences in photometry for binary and single brown dwarfs. We investigated the mean absolute magnitudes for binaries and singles with parallaxes as a function of J-K color in the L/T transition. Overall, binaries are on average $1-2σ$ brighter than singles of the same color. We discuss the implications for candidate binaries that are apparent spectral blends which span a broad range of luminosities,…
Early attempts to apply asteroseismology to study the Galaxy have already shown unexpected discrepancies for the mass distribution of stars between the Galactic models and the data; a result that is still unexplained. Here, we revisit the analysis of the asteroseismic sample of dwarf and subgiant stars observed by Kepler and investigate in detail the possible causes for the reported discrepancy. We investigate two models of the Milky Way based on stellar population synthesis, Galaxia and TRILEGAL. In agreement with previous results, we find that TRILEGAL predicts more massive stars compared to…
Binary population synthesis (BPS) study provides a comprehensive way to understand evolutions of binaries and their end products. Close white dwarf (WD) binaries have crucial characteristics in examining in uence of yetunresolved physical parameters on the binary evolution. In this paper, we perform Monte Carlo BPS simulations, investigating the population of WD/main sequence (WD/MS) binaries and double WD binaries, with a publicly available binary star evolution code under 37 different assumptions on key physical processes and binary initial conditions. We considered different combinations of…
Over a dozen ultracool dwarfs (UCDs), low-mass objects of spectral types $\geq$M7, are known to be sources of radio flares. These typically several-minutes-long radio bursts can be up to 100\% circularly polarized and have high brightness temperatures, consistent with coherent emission via the electron cyclotron maser operating in $\sim$kG magnetic fields. Recently, the statistical properties of the bulk physical parameters that describe these UCDs have become adequately described to permit synthesis of the population of radio-flaring objects. For the first time, I construct a Monte Carlo simu…
HR-pyPopStar II: high spectral resolution evolutionary synthesis models low metallicity expansion and the properties of the stellar populations of dwarf galaxies
Max-Planck Institut für Astrophysik（马克斯·普朗克天体物理研究所）；Departamento de Investigación Básica, CIEMAT（基础研究部，CIEMAT）；Centro de Astrobiologí´a (CSIC/INTA)（天文生物学中心（CSIC/INTA））；FRACTAL S.L.N.E.
The cornerstone mission of the European Space Agency, Gaia, has revealed properties of 260 000 white dwarfs in the Galaxy, allowing us for the first time to constrain the evolution of white dwarfs with a large sample. Complementary surveys (CoRoT,Kepler, K2, APOGEE andGaia-ESO), will revolutionize our understanding of the formation and history of our Galaxy, providing accurate stellar masses, radii, ages, distances, and chemical properties for very large samples of stars across different Galactic stellar populations. To exploit the potential of the combination of spectroscopic, seismic and ast…
Spectral classification of brown dwarfs using machine learning
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México（墨西哥国立自治大学）；Observatorio Astronómico, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba（科尔多瓦国立大学天文台）；Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)（国家科学研究委员会）
