Evolution and colours of helium-core white dwarf stars: the case of low-metallicity progenitors

The present work is designed to explore the evolution of helium-core white dwarf (He WD) stars for the case of metallicities much lower than the solar metallicity (Z = 0.001 and 0.0002). Evolution is followed in a self-consistent way with the predictions of detailed and new non-grey model atmosphere...

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Autores principales: Serenelli, Aldo Marcelo, Althaus, Leandro Gabriel, Rohrmann, René, Benvenuto, Omar Gustavo
Formato: Articulo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2002
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Acceso en línea:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/84905
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id I19-R120-10915-84905
record_format dspace
institution Universidad Nacional de La Plata
institution_str I-19
repository_str R-120
collection SEDICI (UNLP)
language Inglés
topic Ciencias Astronómicas
Stars: atmospheres
Stars: evolution
Stars: fundamental parameters
Stars: interiors
White dwarfs
spellingShingle Ciencias Astronómicas
Stars: atmospheres
Stars: evolution
Stars: fundamental parameters
Stars: interiors
White dwarfs
Serenelli, Aldo Marcelo
Althaus, Leandro Gabriel
Rohrmann, René
Benvenuto, Omar Gustavo
Evolution and colours of helium-core white dwarf stars: the case of low-metallicity progenitors
topic_facet Ciencias Astronómicas
Stars: atmospheres
Stars: evolution
Stars: fundamental parameters
Stars: interiors
White dwarfs
description The present work is designed to explore the evolution of helium-core white dwarf (He WD) stars for the case of metallicities much lower than the solar metallicity (Z = 0.001 and 0.0002). Evolution is followed in a self-consistent way with the predictions of detailed and new non-grey model atmospheres, time-dependent element diffusion and the history of the white dwarf progenitor. Reliable initial models for low-mass He WDs are obtained by applying mass-loss rates to a 1-M⊙ stellar model in such a way that the stellar radius remains close to the Roche lobe radius. The loss of angular momentum caused by gravitational wave emission and magnetic stellar wind braking are considered. Model atmospheres, based on a detailed treatment of the microphysics entering the WD atmosphere (such as the formalism of Hummer-Mihalas to deal with non-ideal effects) and hydrogen line and pseudo-continuum opacities, enable us to provide accurate colours and magnitudes at both early and advanced evolutionary stages. We find that most of our evolutionary sequences experience several episodes of hydrogen thermonuclear flashes. In particular, the lower the metallicity, the larger the minimum stellar mass for the occurrence of flashes induced by CNO cycle reactions. The existence of a mass threshold for the occurrence of diffusion-induced CNO flashes leads to a marked dichotomy in the age of our models. Another finding of this study is that our He WD models experience unstable hydrogen burning via PP nuclear reactions at late cooling stages as a result of hydrogen chemically diffusing inwards. Such PP flashes take place in models with very low metal content. We also find that models experiencing CNO flashes exhibit a pronounced turn-off in most of their colours at M<SUB>v</SUB> ≈ 16. Finally, colour-magnitude diagrams for our models are presented and compared with recent observational data of He WD candidates in the globular clusters NGC 6397 and 47 Tucanae.
format Articulo
Articulo
author Serenelli, Aldo Marcelo
Althaus, Leandro Gabriel
Rohrmann, René
Benvenuto, Omar Gustavo
author_facet Serenelli, Aldo Marcelo
Althaus, Leandro Gabriel
Rohrmann, René
Benvenuto, Omar Gustavo
author_sort Serenelli, Aldo Marcelo
title Evolution and colours of helium-core white dwarf stars: the case of low-metallicity progenitors
title_short Evolution and colours of helium-core white dwarf stars: the case of low-metallicity progenitors
title_full Evolution and colours of helium-core white dwarf stars: the case of low-metallicity progenitors
title_fullStr Evolution and colours of helium-core white dwarf stars: the case of low-metallicity progenitors
title_full_unstemmed Evolution and colours of helium-core white dwarf stars: the case of low-metallicity progenitors
title_sort evolution and colours of helium-core white dwarf stars: the case of low-metallicity progenitors
publishDate 2002
url http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/84905
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