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arXiv 1107.3016astro-ph.SRastro-ph.GA
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NGC 6791的白矮星冷却序列:恒星演化的独特工具

The white dwarf cooling sequence of NGC 6791: a unique tool for stellar evolution

E. García-Berro, S. Torres, I. Renedo, J. Camacho, L. G. Althaus, A. H. Córsico, M. Salaris, J. Isern

摘要:

NGC 6791是一个被充分研究的富含金属的疏散星团,它离我们如此之近,以至于可以成像到比其白矮星冷却序列终止时更暗的光度,从而允许对其白矮星人口进行深入研究。我们使用蒙特卡罗模拟器,采用最新的进化冷却序列的白矮星与富氢和缺氢的气氛,与碳氧和氦的核心。碳-氧核的冷却顺序可以解释液相中Ne ^[22]的沉降和结晶时碳-氧相分离所引起的延迟。我们没有发现大量氦核白矮星的证据,因此我们的结果支持这样的建议,即白矮星光度函数的明亮峰值的起源只能归因于未解决的二进制白矮星的人口。此外,我们的研究结果表明,未解决的二进制人口的二次质量的数量分布增加的质量比之间的祖先系统的二次和主要组件。我们还发现,所观察到的冷却序列似乎能够限制存在的祖子群体具有不同的化学成分和非DA白矮星的分数。我们的模拟对NGC 6791的恒星星族的重要特征进行了有趣的限制。特别地,我们发现单个氦核白矮星的比例必须小于5%,金属丰度为零的恒星子种群必须小于12%,而如果子种群的金属丰度为太阳,上限为~ 8%。最后,我们还发现非DA白矮星在这个星系团中所占的比例非常小,小于6%。

英文摘要:

NGC 6791 is a well-studied, metal-rich open cluster that is so close to us that can be imaged down to luminosities fainter than that of the termination of its white dwarf cooling sequence, thus allowing for an in-depth study of its white dwarf population. We use a Monte Carlo simulator that employs up-to-date evolutionary cooling sequences for white dwarfs with hydrogen-rich and hydrogen-deficient atmospheres, with carbon-oxygen and helium cores. The cooling sequences for carbon-oxygen cores account for the delays introduced by both Ne^22 sedimentation in the liquid phase and by carbon-oxygen phase separation upon crystallization. We do not find evidence for a substantial fraction of helium-core white dwarfs, and hence our results support the suggestion that the origin of the bright peak of the white dwarf luminosity function can only be attributed to a population of unresolved binary white dwarfs. Moreover, our results indicate that the number distribution of secondary masses of the population of unresolved binaries has to increase with increasing mass ratio between the secondary and primary components of the progenitor system. We also find that the observed cooling sequence appears to be able to constrain the presence of progenitor sub-populations with different chemical compositions and the fraction of non-DA white dwarfs. Our simulations place interesting constraints on important characteristics of the stellar populations of NGC 6791. In particular, we find that the fraction of single helium-core white dwarfs must be smaller than 5%, that a sub-population of stars with zero metallicity must be <12%, while if the adopted metallicity of the sub-population is solar the upper limit is ~8%. Finally, we also find that the fraction of non-DA white dwarfs in this particular cluster is surprinsingly small <6%.

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