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The Formation of Massive White Dwarfs in Cataclysmic Binaries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

Wai-Yuen Law  and
Hans Ritter
Wai-Yuen Law
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Physik und Astrophysik, 8046 Garching, Federal Republic of Germany
Hans Ritter
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Physik und Astrophysik, 8046 Garching, Federal Republic of Germany

Abstract

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In contrast to the mass spectrum of single white dwarfs which has a single narrow peak at ~0.6 M⊙, the observed mass spectrum of white dwarfs of cataclysmic binaries (CB's) shows a rather uniform distribution of the masses in the range ~0.3 M⊙, to ~1.3 M⊙. The formation of CB's with white dwarfs of less than about 0.8 M⊙ can be understood as the result of a binary evolution according to low mass Case B or Case C with a subsequent spiraling-in in a common envelope. On the other hand the formation of massive white dwarfs of M ≲ 1 M⊙, can be explained as the result of a massive Case B mass transfer yielding a helium star which subsequently undergoes a second Case B mass transfer (so called Case BB evolution). The ultimate product of such an evolution is either a CO-white dwarf with a mass up to the Chandrasekhar limit or a neutron star. The formation of CB's via Case BB evolution requires the binary to undergo at least one, most probably two separate phases of spiraling-in in a common envelope.

Type
Part IV: Cataclysmic Binaries and their Role in Stellar Evolution
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 69: Binary and Multiple Stars as Tracers of Stellar Evolution , 1982 , pp. 447 - 451
Copyright
Copyright © Reidel 1982

References

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