Polluted White Dwarfs: Mixing Regions and Diffusion Timescales. (arXiv:1812.09602v1 [astro-ph.SR])
Polluted White Dwarfs: Mixing Regions and Diffusion Timescales. (arXiv:1812.09602v1 [astro-ph.SR]) <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bauer_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">Evan B. Bauer</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bildsten_L/0/1/0/all/0/1">Lars Bildsten</a> Many isolated white dwarfs (WDs) show spectral evidence of atmospheric metal pollution. Since heavy element sedimentation timescales are short, this most likely indicates ongoing accretion. Accreted metals encounter a variety of mixing processes at the WD surface: convection, gravitational sedimentation, overshoot, and thermohaline instability. We present MESA WD models that explore each of these processes and their implications for inferred accretion rates. We provide diffusion timescales for many individual metals, and we quantify the regimes in which thermohaline mixing dominates over gravitational sedimentation in setting the effective settlingRead More →