Limb-Darkening Coefficients for Eclipsing White Dwarfs

TL;DR

This paper provides comprehensive limb-darkening coefficients and intensity profiles for eclipsing white dwarfs across multiple photometric systems, crucial for modeling light-curves in current and future surveys.

Contribution

It offers the first extensive set of limb-darkening coefficients for white dwarfs in various photometric bands and laws, including effects of convection, aiding precise light-curve modeling.

Findings

Coefficients computed for seven limb-darkening laws.

Variation of coefficients with atmospheric parameters analyzed.

Prepared data supports analysis of ~10^5 white dwarf eclipsing systems.

Abstract

We present extensive calculations of linear and non-linear limb-darkening coefficients as well as complete intensity profiles appropriate for modeling the light-curves of eclipsing white dwarfs. We compute limb-darkening coefficients in the Johnson-Kron-Cousins UBVRI photometric system as well as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) ugrizy system using the most up-to-date model atmospheres available. In all, we provide the coefficients for seven different limb-darkening laws. We describe the variations of these coefficients as a function of the atmospheric parameters, including the effects of convection at low effective temperatures. Finally, we discuss the importance of having readily available limb-darkening coefficients in the context of present and future photometric surveys like the LSST, Palomar Transient Factory, and the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS). The LSST, for example, may find ~10^5 eclipsing white dwarfs. The limb-darkening calculations presented here will be an essential part of the detailed analysis of all of these systems.