Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T18:56:03.378Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Ap stars as progenitors of magnetic white dwarfs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2005

A. Kawka
Affiliation:
Astronomický ústav AV ČR, Fričova 298, 251 65 Ondřejov, Czech Republic
S. Vennes
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, 3400 North Charles Street, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The progenitors of magnetic white dwarfs are believed to be magnetic Ap and Bp stars because the fields in these stars are structured and are present in the stellar core. As in Ap/Bp stars the magnetic fields in white dwarfs are, in most cases, dipolar or quadrupolar with various offsets. Although the present space density of Ap/Bp progenitors would be sufficient to account for the density of magnetic white dwarfs in young populations such as found in the Palomar-Green survey, we show that it would be insufficient to generate the density of known magnetic white dwarfs in the older solar neighborhood. Assuming magnetic flux conservation during the final stages of evolution, we find that Ap/Bp stars would evolve into white dwarfs with magnetic fields exceeding $10^7$ G, assuming a minimum polar field of 200 G in Ap/Bp stars, thereby leaving many magnetic white dwarfs with lower fields without likely progenitors.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
© 2004 International Astronomical Union