The merging of double white dwarfs (WDs) may produce the events of accretion-induced collapse (AIC) and form single neutron stars (NSs). Meanwhile, it is also notable that the recently proposed WD+He subgiant scenario has a significant contribution to the production of massive double WDs, in which the primary WD grows in mass by accreting He-rich material from a He subgiant companion. In this work, we aim to study the binary population synthesis (BPS) properties of AIC events from the double WD mergers by considering the classical scenarios and also the contribution of theWD+He subgiant scenario to the formation of double WDs. First, we provided a dense and large model grid of WD+He star systems for producing AIC events through the double WD merger scenario. Secondly, we performed several sets of BPS calculations to obtain the rates and single NS number in our Galaxy. We found that the rates of AIC events from the double WD mergers in the Galaxy are in the range of 1.4-8.9*10^-3 yr^-1 for all ONe/CO WD+ONe/CO WD mergers, and in the range of 0.3-3.8*10^-3 yr^-1 when double COWD mergers are not considered.We also found that the number of single NSs from AIC events in our Galaxy may range from 0.328*10^7 to 1.072*10^8. The chirp mass of double WDs for producing AIC events distribute in the range of 0.55-1.25 Msun. We estimated that more than half of doubleWDs for producing AIC events are capable to be observed by the future space-based gravitational wave detectors.
It is not known how single white dwarfs with masses less than 0.5Msolar -- low-mass white dwarfs -- are formed. One way in which such a white dwarf might be formed is after the merger of a helium-core white dwarf with a main-sequence star that produces a red giant branch star and fails to ignite helium. We use a stellar-evolution code to compute models of the remnants of these mergers and find a relation between the pre-merger masses and the final white dwarf mass. Combining our results with a model population, we predict that the mass distribution of single low-mass white dwarfs formed throug…
Isolated hot subdwarfs might be formed by the merging of two helium-core white dwarfs. Before merging, helium-core white dwarfs have hydrogen-rich envelopes and some of this hydrogen may survive the merger. We calculate the mass of hydrogen that is present at the start of such mergers and, with the assumption that hydrogen is mixed throughout the disrupted white dwarf in the merger process, estimate how much can survive. We find a hydrogen mass of up to about $2 \times 10^{-3}\,\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$ in merger remnants. We make model merger remnants that include the hydrogen mass appropriate to t…
Recent studies have shown that for suitable initial conditions both super- and sub-Chandrasekhar mass carbon-oxygen white dwarf mergers produce explosions similar to observed SNe Ia. The question remains, however, how much fine tuning is necessary to produce these conditions. We performed a large set of SPH merger simulations, sweeping the possible parameter space. We find trends for merger remnant properties, and discuss how our results affect the viability of our recently proposed sub-Chandrasekhar merger channel for SNe Ia.
Thermonuclear, or Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), originate from the explosion of carbon--oxygen white dwarfs, and serve as standardizable cosmological candles. However, despite their importance, the nature of the progenitor systems that give rise to SNe Ia has not been hitherto elucidated. Observational evidence favors the double-degenerate channel in which merging white dwarf binaries lead to SNe Ia. Furthermore, significant discrepancies exist between observations and theory, and to date, there has been no self-consistent merger model that yields a SNe Ia. Here we show that a spiral mode insta…
Recent surveys have allowed to derive the white dwarf mass distribution with reasonable accuracy. This distribution shows a noticeable degree of structure that it is often attributed to the evolution of close binaries in general, and to mergers in particular. To analyze if the origin of this structure can be attributed to the merger of double white dwarfs, we have used a simplified population synthesis model that retains the essential processes of formation of double degenerate binaries. Special care has been taken to avoid artifacts introduced by discontinuities in the distribution functions.…
Due to orbital decay by gravitational-wave radiation, some close-binary helium white dwarfs are expected to merge within a Hubble time. The immediate merger products are believed to be helium-rich sdO stars, essentially helium main-sequence stars. We present new evolution calculations for these post-merger stars beyond the core helium-burning phase. The most massive He-sdO's develop a strong helium-burning shell and evolve to become helium-rich giants. We include nucleosynthesis calculations following the merger of $0.4 \rm M_{\odot}$ helium white-dwarf pairs with metallicities $Z = 0.0001, 0.…
The mergers of double helium white dwarfs are believed to form isolated helium-rich hot subdwarfs. Observation shows that the helium-rich hot subdwarfs can be divided into two subgroups based on whether the surface is carbon-rich or carbon-normal. But it is not clear whether this distribution directly comes from binary evolution. We adopt the binary population synthesis (BPS) to obtain the population of single helium-rich hot subdwarfs according to the channel of double helium white dwarfs merger. We find that the merger channel can represent the two subgroups in the $T_{\rm{eff}}-\log g$ plan…
Many hydrogen deficient stars are characterised by surface abundance patterns that are hard to reconcile with conventional stellar evolution. Instead, it has been suggested that they may represent the result of a merger episode between a helium and a carbon-oxygen white dwarf. In this Letter, we present a nucleosynthesis study of the merger of a 0.4 M_sol helium white dwarf with a 0.8 M_sol carbon-oxygen white dwarf, by coupling the thermodynamic history of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics particles with a post-processing code. The resulting chemical abundance pattern, particularly for oxygen a…
It is predicted that orbital decay by gravitational-wave radiation and tidal interaction will cause some close-binary stars to merge within a Hubble time. The merger of a helium-core white dwarf with a main-sequence star can produce a red giant branch star that has a low-mass hydrogen envelope when helium is ignited and thus become a hot subdwarf. Because detailed calculations have not been made, we compute post-merger models with a stellar evolution code. We find the evolutionary paths available to merger remnants and find the pre-merger conditions that lead to the formation of hot subdwarfs.…
High-field magnetic white dwarfs have been long suspected to be the result of stellar mergers. However, the nature of the coalescing stars and the precise mechanism that produces the magnetic field are still unknown. Here we show that the hot, convective, differentially rotating corona present in the outer layers of the remnant of the merger of two degenerate cores is able to produce magnetic fields of the required strength that do not decay for long timescales. We also show, using an state-of-the-art Monte Carlo simulator, that the expected number of high-field magnetic white dwarfs produced …
Early-type R stars and J stars are a special type of carbon star, having enhanced nitrogen ($\rm [N/Fe]\approx 0.5$), lithium, a low \iso{12}{C}/\iso{13}{C} ratio ($<15$) and no s-element enhancements. The merger of a helium white dwarf with a red giant is regarded to be a possible model for the origin of early-type R stars, but the details of nucleosynthesis are not clear. In this paper we investigate three possible channels for helium white-dwarf + red-giant mergers, and find that, amongst the three, only a high-mass helium white dwarf subducted into a low core-mass red giant can make an ear…
Recently, a class of Roche-lobe-filling binary systems consisting of hot subdwarf stars and white dwarfs with sub-hour periods has been discovered. At present, the hot subdwarf is in a shell He burning phase and is transferring some of its remaining thin H envelope to its white dwarf companion. As the evolution of the hot subdwarf continues, it is expected to detach, leaving behind a low mass C/O core white dwarf secondary with a thick He layer. Then, on a timescale of $\sim 10$ Myr, gravitational wave radiation will again bring the systems into contact. If the mass transfer is unstable and re…
The origin of subluminous Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) has long eluded any explanation, as all Chandrasekhar-mass models have severe problems reproducing them. Recently, it has been proposed that violent mergers of two white dwarfs of 0.9 M_sun could lead to subluminous SNe Ia events that resemble 1991bg-like SNe~Ia. Here we investigate whether this scenario still works for mergers of two white dwarfs with a mass ratio smaller than one. We aim to determine the range of mass ratios for which a detonation still forms during the merger, as only those events will lead to a SN Ia. This range is an i…
White dwarf (WD) binary mergers are possible progenitors to a number of unusual stars and transient phenomena, including type Ia supernovae. To date, simulations of mergers have not included magnetic fields, even though they are believed to play a significant role in the evolution of the merger remnant. We simulated a 0.625 - 0.65 $M_{\odot}$ carbon-oxygen WD binary merger in the magnetohydrodynamic moving mesh code Arepo. Each WD was given an initial dipole field with a surface value of $\sim10^3$ G. As in simulations of merging double neutron star binaries, we find exponential field growth w…
We present the results of an investigation of the dredge-up and mixing during the merger of two white dwarfs with different chemical compositions by conducting hydrodynamic simulations of binary mergers for three representative mass ratios. In all the simulations, the total mass of the two white dwarfs is $\lesssim1.0~{\rm M_\odot}$. Mergers involving a CO and a He white dwarf have been suggested as a possible formation channel for R Coronae Borealis type stars, and we are interested in testing if such mergers lead to conditions and outcomes in agreement with observations. Even if the conditio…
The surface abundances of extreme helium (EHe) and R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars are discussed in terms of the merger of a carbon-oxygen white dwarf with a helium white dwarf. The model is expressed as a linear mixture of the individual layers of both constituent white dwarfs, taking account of the specific evolution of each star. In developing this recipe from previous versions, particular attention has been given to the inter-shell abundances of the asymptotic giant branch star which evolved to become the carbon-oxygen white dwarf. Thus the surface composition of the merged star is estimate…
A leading formation scenario for R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars invokes the merger of degenerate He and CO white dwarfs (WD) in a binary. The observed ratio of 16O/18O for RCB stars is in the range of 0.3-20 much smaller than the solar value of ~500. In this paper, we investigate whether such a low ratio can be obtained in simulations of the merger of a CO and a He white dwarf. We present the results of five 3-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of the merger of a double white dwarf system where the total mass is 0.9 Mdot and the initial mass ratio (q) varies between 0.5 and 0.99. We identify…
Ultra-massive white dwarfs (UMWDs) with masses larger than 1.05Msun are basically believed to harbour oxygen-neon (ONe) cores. Recently, Gaia data reveals an enhancement of UMWDs on Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (HRD), which indicates that extra cooling delay mechanism such as crystallization and elemental sedimentation may exist in the UMWDs. Further studies suggested that a portion of UMWDs should have experienced pretty long cooling delays, implying that they are carbon-oxygen (CO) WDs. However, the formation mechanism of these UMCOWDs is still under debate. In this work, we investigated whet…
Type Ia supernovae are generally thought to be due to the thermonuclear explosions of carbon-oxygen white dwarfs with masses near the Chandrasekhar mass. This scenario, however, has two long-standing problems. First, the explosions do not naturally produce the correct mix of elements, but have to be finely tuned to proceed from sub-sonic deflagration to super-sonic detonation. Second, population models and observations give formation rates of near-Chandrasekhar white dwarfs that are far too small. Here, we suggest that type Ia supernovae instead result from mergers of roughly equal-mass carbon…
We use multi-epoch spectroscopy of about 4000 white dwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to constrain the properties of the Galactic population of binary white dwarf systems and calculate their merger rate. With a Monte Carlo code, we model the distribution of DRVmax, the maximum radial velocity shift between exposures of the same star, as a function of the binary fraction within 0.05 AU, fbin, and the power-law index in the separation distribution at the end of the common envelope phase, alpha. Although there is some degeneracy between fbin and alpha, the the fifteen high DRVmax systems tha…
Observations of white dwarfs in the globular clusters NGC 6397 and Omega Centauri indicate that these stars may get a velocity kick during their time as giants. If the mass loss while on the asymptotic giant branch is slightly asymmetric, the resulting white dwarf could be born with such a velocity kick. These energetic white dwarfs will impart their excess energy on other stars as they travel through the cluster. A Monte-Carlo simulation of the white-dwarfs kicks combined with estimate of the phase-space diffusion of the white dwarfs reveals that as the white dwarfs equilibrate, they lose mos…
Gravitational wave emission can lead to the coalescence of close pairs of compact objects orbiting each other. For the case of neutron stars such mergers may yield masses above the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff limit, leading to the formation of black holes. For the case of white dwarfs the merger product may exceed the Chandrasekhar limit, leading either to a thermonuclear explosion as Type Ia supernova, or to a collapse forming a neutron star. If a Type Ia supernova explosion is avoided, the merger of two massive white dwarfs is expected to form a hydrogen- and helium-free circumstellar nebula …
We obtain new and precise information on the double white dwarf (DWD) population and on its gravitational-wave-driven merger rate, by combining the constraints on the DWD population from two previous radial-velocity-variation studies: One based on a sample of white dwarfs (WDs) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS, which with its low spectral resolution probes systems at separations a<0.05 au), and one based on the ESO-VLT Supernova-Ia Progenitor surveY (SPY, which, with high spectral resolution, is sensitive to a<4 au). From a joint likelihood analysis, the DWD fraction among WDs is fbin=0…
Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) originate from the thermonuclear explosion of carbon-oxygen white dwarfs (CO WDs), giving rise to luminous optical transients. A relatively common variety of subluminous SNe Ia events, referred to as SNe Iax, are believed to arise from the failed detonation of a CO WD. In this paper, we explore failed detonation SNe Ia in the context of the double-degenerate channel of merging white dwarfs. In particular, we have carried out the first fully three-dimensional simulation of the merger of a ONe WD with a CO WD. While the hot, tidally-disrupted carbon-rich disk material…
Orbital decay by gravitational-wave radiation will cause some close-binary white dwarfs (WDs) to merge within a Hubble time. The results from previous hydrodynamical WD-merger simulations have been used to guide calculations of the post-merger evolution of carbon-oxygen + helium (CO+He) WD binaries. Our models include the formation of a hot corona in addition to a Keplerian disk. We introduce a 'destroyeddisk' model to simulate the effect of direct disk ingestion into the expanding envelope. These calculations indicate significant lifetimes in the domain of the rare R Coronae Borealis (RCB) st…
The merger of two carbon-oxygen white dwarfs can lead either to a spectacular transient, stable nuclear burning or a massive, rapidly rotating white dwarf. Simulations of mergers have shown that the outcome strongly depends on whether the white dwarfs are similar or dissimilar in mass. In the similar-mass case, both white dwarfs merge fully and the remnant is hot throughout, while in the dissimilar case, the more massive, denser white dwarf remains cold and essentially intact, with the disrupted lower mass one wrapped around it in a hot envelope and disk. In order to determine what constitutes…
Double white dwarf (double-WD) binaries may merge within a Hubble time and produce high-mass WDs. Compared to other high-mass WDs, the double-WD merger products have higher velocity dispersion because they are older. With the power of Gaia data, we show strong evidence for double-WD merger products among high-mass WDs by analyzing the transverse-velocity distribution of more than a thousand high-mass WDs (0.8--1.3 $M_\odot$). We estimate that the fraction of double-WD merger products in our sample is about 20 %. We also obtain a precise double-WD merger rate and its mass dependence. Our merger…
Context: White dwarfs (WDs) are important and abundant tools to study the structure and evolution of the Galactic environment. However, the multiplicity of WD progenitors is generally neglected. Specifically, a merger in a binary system can lead to a single WD, which could result in wrongly inferred quantities if only single stellar evolution (SSE) is considered. These mergers are linked to transients such as luminous red novae and Type Ia supernovae. Aims: We investigate the impact of binary evolution (BE) upon observable single WDs, and compare their properties to WDs formed through SSE. We …
We present a nucleosynthesis study of the merger of a 0.4 solar masses helium white dwarf with a 0.8 solar masses carbon-oxygen white dwarf, coupling the thermodynamic history of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics particles with a post-processing code. The resulting chemical abundance pattern, particularly for oxygen and fluorine, is in qualitative agreement with the observed abundances in R Coronae Borealis stars.
We search for merger products among the 25 most massive white dwarfs in the Montreal White Dwarf Database 100 pc sample through follow-up spectroscopy and high-cadence photometry. We find an unusually high fraction, 40%, of magnetic white dwarfs among this population. In addition, we identify four outliers in transverse velocity and detect rapid rotation in five objects. Our results show that $56^{+9}_{-10}$\% of the $M\approx1.3~M_{\odot}$ ultramassive white dwarfs form through mergers. This fraction is significantly higher than expected from the default binary population synthesis calculatio…
Orbital decay mechanisms argue that double white dwarf mergers are inevitable, but extremely rare. Whilst some mergers result in explosions, the survivors re-ignite helium and burn brightly for tens of thousands or millions of years. Candidate survivors include extreme helium stars, R CrB variables and various classes of helium-rich subluminous star. Nuclear waste on the survivors' surfaces provides evidence of the stars' nuclear history prior to and their nucleosynthesis during the merger. Extensive and deep spectroscopic surveys offer rich prospects for future discoveries.
It has long been accepted that a possible mechanism for explaining the existence of magnetic white dwarfs is the merger of a binary white dwarf system, as there are viable mechanisms for producing sustainable magnetism within the merger product. However, the lack of rapid rotators in the magnetic white dwarf population has been always considered a problematic issue of this scenario. In order to explain this discrepancy we build a model in which the interaction between the magnetosphere of the star and the disk induces angular momentum transfer. Our model predicts that the magnetospheric intera…
We report the discovery of two detached double white dwarf (WD) binaries, SDSS J082239.546+304857.19 and SDSS J104336.275+055149.90, with orbital periods of 40 and 46 min, respectively. The 40 min system is eclipsing; it is composed of a 0.30 Msun and a 0.52 Msun WD. The 46 min system is a likely LISA verification binary. The short 20 Myr and ~34 Myr gravitational wave merger times of the two binaries imply that many more such systems have formed and merged over the age of the Milky Way. We update the estimated Milky Way He+CO WD binary merger rate and affirm our previously published result: H…
We present high-resolution (R~50,000) observations of near-IR transitions of CO and CN of the five known hydrogen-deficient carbon (HdC) stars and four R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars. We perform an abundance analysis of these stars by using spectrum synthesis and state-of-the-art MARCS model atmospheres for cool hydrogen-deficient stars. Our analysis confirms reports by Clayton and colleagues that those HdC stars exhibiting CO lines in their spectrum and the cool RCB star S Aps are strongly enriched in 18O (with 16O/18O ratios ranging from 0.3 to 16). Nitrogen and carbon are in the form of 14N…
Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) play a crucial role as standardizable cosmological candles, though the nature of their progenitors is a subject of active investigation. Recent observational and theoretical work has pointed to merging white dwarf binaries, referred to as the double-degenerate channel, as the possible progenitor systems for some SNe Ia. Additionally, recent theoretical work suggests that mergers which fail to detonate may produce magnetized, rapidly-rotating white dwarfs. In this paper, we present the first multidimensional simulations of the post-merger evolution of white dwarf bin…
Recent calculations of accretion-induced collapse of an oxygen-neon-magnesium white dwarf into a neutron star [Piro & Thompson 2014] allow for a potentially detectable transient electromagnetic signal. Motivated by these results, I present theoretical rates and physical properties of binary stars that can produce accretion-induced collapse. The rates are presented for various types of host galaxies (e.g. old ellipticals versus spirals) and are differentiated by the donor star type (e.g. large giant star versus compact helium-rich donor). Results presented in this thesis may help to guide near-…
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_{\…
We present an analysis of the most massive white dwarf candidates in the Montreal White Dwarf Database 100 pc sample. We identify 25 objects that would be more massive than $1.3~M_{\odot}$ if they had pure H atmospheres and CO cores, including two outliers with unusually high photometric mass estimates near the Chandrasekhar limit. We provide follow-up spectroscopy of these two white dwarfs and show that they are indeed significantly below this limit. We expand our model calculations for CO core white dwarfs up to $M=1.334\ M_\odot$, which corresponds to the high-density limit of our equation-…
We present new radial velocity and X-ray observations of extremely low-mass (ELM, 0.2 Msol) white dwarf candidates in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 area. We identify seven new binary systems with 1-18 h orbital periods. Five of the systems will merge due to gravitational wave radiation within 10 Gyr, bringing the total number of merger systems found in the ELM Survey to 24. The ELM Survey has now quintupled the known merger white dwarf population. It has also discovered the eight shortest period detached binary white dwarf systems currently known. We discuss the characteri…
White dwarfs are dense, cooling stellar embers consisting mostly of carbon and oxygen, or oxygen and neon (with a few percent carbon) at higher initial stellar masses. These stellar cores are enveloped by a shell of helium which in turn is usually surrounded by a layer of hydrogen, generally prohibiting direct observation of the interior composition. However, carbon is observed at the surface of a sizeable fraction of white dwarfs, sometimes with traces of oxygen, and it is thought to be dredged-up from the core by a deep helium convection zone. In these objects only traces of hydrogen are fou…
We examine rare evolutionary routes of binary systems where the initially more massive primary star of ~5.5-8.5Mo, forms a white dwarf (WD), while the secondary star of 4Mo < M_2,0 < M_1,0 accretes mass from the evolved primary and later terminates as a core collapse supernova (CCSN). In such a WD-NS reverse evolution a neutron star (NS) or a potential NS-progenitor massive core is formed after the WD. These SN explosions are likely to be preceded by strong interaction of the WD with the giant secondary's core, leading to an Intermediate-Luminosity Optical Transient (ILOT; Red Transient; Red N…
We report the discovery of HE 0430-2457, the first extremely low-mass pre-white dwarf (ELM pre-WD) in a long period binary (P = 771 +- 3 d). The spectroscopic parameters of the primary are determined to be Teff = 26200 +- 1500 K and logg = 5.40 +- 0.35, placing it in the region occupied by core He-burning hot subdwarf B stars. By comparing the spectroscopic parameters of the K-type companion to stellar models, and using the mass ratio, the mass of the hot primary is determined to be 0.23 Msun. Given that this is too low for core He-burning, the primary in HE 0430-2457 is not an EHB star but a …
Supernovae interacting with Si and S-rich circumstellar matter from double white dwarf mergers
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, National Institutes of Natural Sciences（日本国立天文台，日本国立科学研究所）；Graduate Institute for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI（综合研究大学院大学）；School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University（蒙纳士大学物理与天文学学院）；International Center of Supernovae (ICESUN), Yunnan Key Laboratory of Supernova Research, Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院云南天文台超新星国际研究中心（ICESUN），云南省超新星研究重点实验室）
We estimate the merger rate of double degenerate binaries containing extremely low mass (ELM) <0.3 Msun white dwarfs in the Galaxy. Such white dwarfs are detectable for timescales of 0.1 Gyr -- 1 Gyr in the ELM Survey; the binaries they reside in have gravitational wave merger times of 0.001 Gyr -- 100 Gyr. To explain the observed distribution requires that most ELM white dwarf binary progenitors detach from the common envelope phase with <1 hr orbital periods. We calculate the local space density of ELM white dwarf binaries and estimate a merger rate of 3e-3/yr over the entire disk of the Mil…
The merger of two white dwarfs (WDs) creates a differentially rotating remnant which is unstable to magnetohydrodynamic instabilities. These instabilities can lead to viscous evolution on a time-scale short compared to the thermal evolution of the remnant. We present multi-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of the evolution of WD merger remnants under the action of an $α$-viscosity. We initialize our calculations using the output of eight WD merger simulations from Dan et al. (2011), which span a range of mass ratios and total masses. We generically find that the merger remnants evolve towar…
The diverse outcomes of binary white dwarf mergers and connections to Galactic LISA sources
University of California, San Diego（加州大学圣地亚哥分校）；Carnegie Mellon University（卡内基梅隆大学）；Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto（多伦多大学加拿大理论天体物理研究所）
Violent mergers revisited: The origin of the fastest stars in the Galaxy
Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik（马克斯·普朗克天体物理学研究所）；University of California, Berkeley（加州大学伯克利分校）；Universität Potsdam（波茨坦大学）；Trinity College Dublin（都柏林圣三一学院）；Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory（劳伦斯利弗莫尔国家实验室）；Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian（哈佛与史密森尼天体物理中心）；Queen’s University Belfast（贝尔法斯特女王大学）；Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg（海德堡大学天文中心）；Heidelberger Institut für Theoretische Studien（海德堡理论研究所）
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…
We perform stellar evolution calculations of the remnant of the merger of two He white dwarfs (WDs). Our initial conditions are taken from hydrodynamic simulations of double WD mergers and the viscous disc phase that follows. We evolve these objects from shortly after the merger into their core He-burning phase, when they appear as hot subdwarf stars. We use our models to quantify the amount of H that survives the merger, finding that it is difficult for $\gtrsim 10^{-4}\;{\rm M}_\odot$ of H to survive, with even less being concentrated in the surface layers of the object. We also study the ro…
White Dwarf Merger Remnants with Cooling Delays on the Q Branch Lack Strong Magnetism
Boston University（波士顿大学）；Institute for Advanced Study（普林斯顿高等研究院）；Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Oklahoma（俄克拉荷马大学霍默·L·多德物理与天文系）；Université de Montréal（蒙特利尔大学）；University of Victoria（维多利亚大学）
We present a large parameter study where we investigate the structure of white dwarf (WD) merger remnants after the dynamical phase. A wide range of WD masses and compositions are explored and we also probe the effect of different initial conditions. We investigated the degree of mixing between the WDs, the conditions for detonations as well as the amount of gas ejected. We find that systems with lower mass ratios have more total angular momentum and as a result more mass is flung out in a tidal tail. Nuclear burning can affect the amount of mass ejected. Many WD binaries that contain a helium…
