Physics
Scientific paper
Oct 1996
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996conph..37..359b&link_type=abstract
Contemporary Physics, Vol. 37, No. 5, p. 359 - 374
Physics
1
White Dwarfs: Stellar Evolution
Scientific paper
In the last two decades, space and ground-based observations have revolutionized the understanding of the remnants of stellar evolution, the white dwarf stars. One now has a detailed picture of the evolution of the surface composition of hot white dwarfs, those objects with temperatures above about 20000K, as they cool. Significant quantities of heavy elements are supported by radiation pressure against the downward pull of gravity in the very hottest examples (above 40000K) but, once the efficiency of the mechanism diminishes below 40000K, they fall rapidly out of the atmosphere. However, while the observational results are qualitatively consistent with the predictions of theoretical calculations, the measured element abundances differ substantially from those expected. A viable explanation, supported by good observational evidence, is that the surface composition is further modified through the loss of material in a weak wind. This paper reviews recent developments, setting them in the context of the earlier picture of white dwarf evolution to show the important advances made.
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