The discovery of the existence of an upper bound on the mass of a white dwarf star is considered as one of the finest of twentieth century astrophysics. On approaching this limiting mass of $1.4M_\odot$, known as the Chandrasekhar mass-limit, a white dwarf is believed to spark of with an explosion called type Ia supernova, which is considered to be a standard candle. But since the last decade, observations of several over-luminous, peculiar type Ia supernovae indicate that the Chandrasekhar-limit be significantly larger. By postulating noncommutativity between the components of momentum variables, we show that the mass of white dwarfs can be enhanced significantly and arrive at a new super-Chandrasekhar mass limit of about $4.68M_\odot$. This can provide a plausible explanation for the origin of over-luminous peculiar type Ia supernovae.
Chandrasekhar made the startling discovery about nine decades back that the mass of compact object white dwarf has a limiting value, once nuclear fusion reactions stop therein. This is the Chandrasekhar mass-limit, which is $\sim1.4M_\odot$ for a non-rotating non-magnetized white dwarf. On approaching this limiting mass, a white dwarf is believed to spark off with an explosion called type Ia supernova, which is considered to be a standard candle. However, observations of several over-luminous, peculiar type Ia supernovae indicate that the Chandrasekhar mass-limit to be significantly larger. By…
Since 2012, we have initiated developing systematically the simplistic to rigorous models to prove that highly super-Chandrasekhar, as well as highly sub-Chandrasekhar, limiting mass white dwarfs are possible to exist. We show that the mass of highly magnetized or modified Einstein's gravity induced white dwarfs could be significantly super-Chandrasekhar and such white dwarfs could altogether have a different mass-limit. On the other hand, type Ia supernovae (SNeIa), a key to unravel the evolutionary history of the universe, are believed to be triggered in white dwarfs having mass close to the…
After the prediction of many sub- and super-Chandrasekhar (at least a dozen for the latter) limiting mass white dwarfs, hence apparently peculiar class of white dwarfs, from the observations of luminosity of type Ia supernovae, researchers have proposed various models to explain these two classes of white dwarfs separately. We earlier showed that these two peculiar classes of white dwarfs, along with the regular white dwarfs, can be explained by a single form of the f(R) gravity, whose effect is significant only in the high-density regime, and it almost vanishes in the low-density regime. Howe…
The indirect evidence for at least a dozen massive white dwarfs violating the Chandrasekhar mass-limit is considered to be one of the wonderful discoveries in astronomy for more than a decade. Researchers have already proposed a diverse amount of models to explain this astounding phenomenon. However, each of these models always carries some drawbacks. On the other hand, noncommutative geometry is one of the best replicas of quantum gravity, which is yet to be proved from observations. Madore introduced the idea of a fuzzy sphere to describe a formalism of noncommutative geometry. This article …
The idea of possible modification to gravity theory, whether it is in the Newtonian or general relativistic premises, is there for quite sometime. Based on it, astrophysical and cosmological problems are targeted to solve. But none of the Newtonian theories of modification has been performed from the first principle. Here, we modify Poisson's equation and propose two possible ways to modify the law gravitation which, however, reduces to Newton's law far away from the center of source. Based on these modified Newton's laws, we attempt to solve problems lying with white dwarfs. There are observa…
Over the last couple of decades, there are direct and indirect evidences for massive compact objects than their conventional counterparts. A couple of such examples are super-Chandrasekhar white dwarfs and massive neutron stars. The observations of more than a dozen peculiar over-luminous type Ia supernovae predict their origins from super-Chandrasekhar white dwarf progenitors. On the other hand, recent gravitational wave detection and some pulsar observations argue for massive neutron stars, lying in the famous mass-gap between lowest astrophysical black hole and conventional highest neutron …
Type Ia supernovae (SNeIa), used as one of the standard candles in astrophysics, are believed to form when the mass of the white dwarf approaches Chandrasekhar mass limit. However, observations in last few decades detected some peculiar SNeIa, which are predicted to be originating from white dwarfs of mass much less than the Chandrasekhar mass limit or much higher than it. Although the unification of these two sub-classes of SNeIa was attempted earlier by our group, in this work, we, for the first time, explain this phenomenon in terms of just one property of the white dwarf which is its centr…
Noncommutative geometry is one of the quantum gravity theories, which various researchers have been using to describe different physical and astrophysical systems. However, so far, no direct observations can justify its existence, and this theory remains a hypothesis. On the other hand, over the past two decades, more than a dozen over-luminous type Ia supernovae have been observed, which indirectly predict that they originate from white dwarfs with super-Chandrasekhar masses $2.1-2.8 \rm\,M_\odot$. In this article, we discuss that considering white dwarfs as squashed fuzzy spheres, a class of…
While computing the Fermi degeneracy pressure of electrons in a white dwarf star within the framework of hydrostatic equilibrium, we depart from the extant practice of treating the electrons as a free fermion gas, by including the effect of the star's self-gravity as an effective gravitational potential. By the star's self gravity, we mean the gravitational field due to the star itself, resulting from the mass of its constituent atoms, the mass of the atom being effectively the mass of the proton. Modifying the free particle Hamiltonian with this effective potential, we employ first order quan…
Recent observations of several peculiar over- and under-luminous type Ia supernovae infer indirect evidence for the violation of the Chandrasekhar mass-limit by suggesting the existence of super- and sub-Chandrasekhar limiting mass white dwarfs. In an attempt to explain these phenomena in the context of general relativistic extensions, we study these objects in Palatini $f(R)$ gravity. We obtain the super- and sub-Chandrasekhar limiting masses as well as the dynamical instability criteria for white dwarfs in the given gravitational theory. We further demonstrate that the conventional positivit…
We establish the importance of modified Einstein's gravity (MG) in white dwarfs (WDs) for the first time in the literature. We show that MG leads to significantly sub- and super-Chandrasekhar limiting mass WDs, depending on a single model parameter. However, conventional WDs on approaching Chandrasekhar's limit are expected to trigger type Ia supernovae (SNeIa), a key to unravel the evolutionary history of the universe. Nevertheless, observations of several peculiar, under- and over-luminous SNeIa argue for the limiting mass widely different from Chandrasekhar's limit. Explosions of MG induced…
The limiting mass of cold white dwarfs was first calculated by E. Stoner in an approximate model of a uniform star and was soon reduced by ~20% in papers by S. Chandrasekhar and L. D. Landau based on an exact solution of the equations for the stellar equilibrium. Here we examine uniform models of white dwarfs taking general relativity effects and the influence of finite temperature into account. Solutions are obtained in the form of finite analytic formulas and, for masses differing by no more than ~20% from the exact solutions, found by numerical integration of the differential equations for …
We explore the effect of modification to Einstein's gravity in white dwarfs for the first time in the literature, to the best of our knowledge. This leads to significantly sub- and super-Chandrasekhar limiting masses of white dwarfs, determined by a single model parameter. On the other hand, type Ia supernovae (SNeIa), a key to unravel the evolutionary history of the universe, are believed to be triggered in white dwarfs having mass close to the Chandrasekhar limit. However, observations of several peculiar, under- and over-luminous SNeIa argue for exploding masses widely different from this l…
In recent years, the idea of sub- and super-Chandrasekhar limiting mass white dwarfs (WDs), which are potential candidates to produce under- and over-luminous type Ia supernovae, respectively, has been a key interest in the scientific community. Although researchers have proposed different models to explain these peculiar objects, modified theories of Einstein's gravity, particularly $f(R)$ gravity with $R$ being the scalar curvature, seems to be one of the finest choices to explain both the regimes of these peculiar WDs. It was already shown that considering higher-order corrections to the St…
The evolution of the remnant of the merger of two white dwarfs is still an open problem. Furthermore, few studies have addressed the case in which the remnant is a magnetic white dwarf with a mass larger than the Chandrasekhar limiting mass. Angular momentum losses might bring the remnant of the merger to the physical conditions suitable for developing a thermonuclear explosion. Alternatively, the remnant may be prone to gravitational or rotational instabilities, depending on the initial conditions reached after the coalescence. Dipole magnetic braking is one of the mechanisms that can drive s…
Generalized uncertainty relation that carries the imprint of quantum gravity introduces a minimal length scale into the description of space-time. It effectively changes the invariant measure of the phase space through a factor $(1+β\mathbf{p}^2)^{-3}$ so that the equation of state for an electron gas undergoes a significant modification from the ideal case. It has been shown in the literature (Rashidi 2016) that the ideal Chandrasekhar limit ceases to exist when the modified equation of state due to the generalized uncertainty is taken into account. To assess the situation in a more complete …
Observations of several peculiar, under- and over-luminous type Ia supernovae (SNeIa) argue for exploding masses widely different from the Chandrasekhar-limit. We explore the modification to Einstein's gravity in white dwarfs for the first time in the literature, which shows that depending on the (density dependent) modified gravity parameter $α$, chosen for the present purpose of representation, limiting mass of white dwarfs could be significantly sub- as well as super-Chandrasekhar. Hence, this unifies the apparently disjoint classes of SNeIa, establishing the importance of modified Einstein…
Null geodesic defocusing in dynamical black-hole-to-white-hole transitions
Abdus Salam Centre for Theoretical Physics, Imperial College London（阿卜杜斯·萨拉姆理论物理中心，伦敦帝国理工学院）；SISSA（的里雅斯特国际高等研究学校）；INFN, Sez. Trieste（意大利国家核物理研究所，的里雅斯特分部）；IFPU–Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe（宇宙基础物理研究所）；School of Mathematics and Statistics, Victoria University of Wellington（惠灵顿维多利亚大学数学与统计学院）
The usual generalized uncertainty principle will lead to a divergent mass limit of white dwarf, and this divergence should be prevented for both scenarios including positive and negative parameters of generalized uncertainty principle. Although it has been shown that negative parameter can directly restore the mass limit, the underlying reason is not given to explain why the negative sign appears under the condition of white dwarf. In order to solve this problem, we derive a field-dependent parameter expression whose sign can change depending on the species of spin fields. Besides, we find tha…
