2024/09/05 by Simon Blouin, Blouin, Simon · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Crystal Structures and Properties #FOS: Physical sciences #High-pressure geophysics and materials #Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2409.03941
openalex publication_date 2024/09/05 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
This chapter provides an in-depth overview of white dwarfs, the evolutionary terminus of the vast majority of stars. It discusses their discovery, their nature as degenerate objects, their connections to earlier phases of stellar evolution, their subsequent evolution as they gradually cool down, the varied physical conditions from their dense cores to their tenuous atmospheres, some key statistics about the properties of the ever expanding population of known white dwarfs, the diversity of their spectra, the accretion of planetary material, and the presence of magnetic fields. The chapter also highlights the instrumental role of white dwarfs in other areas of astronomy.