Asteroseismology of white dwarf stars

TL;DR

This paper reviews the significance of white dwarf asteroseismology in uncovering the internal structures of these stars, highlighting recent analyses that enhance understanding of stellar evolution and populations.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of white dwarf properties, pulsating types, and presents recent research findings from the La Plata Stellar Evolution and Pulsation Group.

Findings

Identification of different pulsating white dwarf families

Recent asteroseismic analyses revealing internal structures

Insights into stellar evolution and population ages

Abstract

Most of low- and intermediate-mass stars that populate the Universe will end their lives as white dwarf stars. These ancient stellar remnants have encrypted inside a precious record of the evolutionary history of the progenitor stars, providing a wealth of information about the evolution of stars, star formation, and the age of a variety of stellar populations, such as our Galaxy and open and globular clusters. While some information like surface chemical composition, temperature and gravity of white dwarfs can be inferred from spectroscopy, the internal structure of these compact stars can be unveiled only by means of asteroseismology, an approach based on the comparison between the observed pulsation periods of variable stars and the periods of appropriate theoretical models. In this communication, we first briefly describe the physical properties of white dwarf stars and the various families of pulsating white dwarfs known up to the present day, and then we present two recent analysis carried out by the La Plata Stellar Evolution and Pulsation Group in this active field of research.