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The White Dwarf Luminosity Function and the Phase Diagram of the Carbon-Oxygen Dense Plasma

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

E. Garcìa-Berro ,
M. Hernanz ,
R. Mochkovitch  and
J. Isern
E. Garcìa-Berro
Affiliation:
Departament de Fisica de la Terra i del Cosmos, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain
M. Hernanz
Affiliation:
Departament de Fisica de la Terra i del Cosmos, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain Departament de Fisica, ETSEIB, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Spain
R. Mochkovitch
Affiliation:
Institut d’Astrophysique du CNRS, Paris, France
J. Isern
Affiliation:
Departament de Fisica de la Terra i del Cosmos, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, CSIC, Spain

Abstract

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We show that the theoretical white dwarf luminosity function depends very much on the assumed phase diagram for the carbon-oxygen dense plasma. Since it is still very uncertain, we compare the two possible extreme cases of complete miscibility and complete separation of carbon and oxygen in solid phase. In the latter case we find that the paucity of low luminosity — log(L/L⊙) ≤ −4.5 — white dwarfs can be explained by the formation of an oxygen core, which releases a large amount of gravitational energy and slows down the cooling rate.

Type
Part I. Chemical Peculiarities as Probe of Stellar Evolution
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 108: Atmospherics Diagnostics of Stellar Evolution: Chemical Peculiarity, Mass Loss, and Explosion , 1988 , pp. 88 - 89
Copyright
Copyright © Springer-Verlag 1988

References

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