Explorations of Dusty Debris Disk Geometry

TL;DR

This paper extends the dust disk model for white dwarfs to include elliptical geometries, analyzing how disk shape affects observed infrared luminosities and improving understanding of debris disk formation.

Contribution

It introduces an elliptical geometry extension to existing dust disk models for white dwarfs, providing new insights into debris disk structures.

Findings

Elliptical disk models better fit observed data than circular models.

Disk shape significantly influences infrared luminosity distributions.

The study enhances understanding of planetary debris disk geometries.

Abstract

As the sample of white dwarfs with signatures of planetary systems has grown, statistical studies have begun to suggest our picture of compact debris disk formation from disrupted planetary bodies is incomplete. Here we present the results of an effort to extend the preferred dust disk model introduced by \citet{jur03} to include elliptical geometries. We apply this model the observed distribution of fractional infrared luminosities, and explore the difference in preferred parameter spaces for a circular and highly elliptical model on a well-studied dusty white dwarf.