Helium shell flashes and evolution of accreting white dwarfs

Journal Article · Tue Jun 01 04:00:00 UTC 1982 · Astrophys. J.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/159988· OSTI ID:6770846

Fujimoto, M Y; Sugimoto, D

In a close binary system or in a dense cloud, gas may be accreted onto a carbon-oxygen white dwarf and will be processed into helium by hydrogen burning in an accreted envelope. As a result, a helium zone grows in mass, and a helium shell flash takes place just as in cores of red giant stars. Properties of such helium shell flashes are investigated both by a generalized theory of shell flash and numerical computations. It is found that the shell flash grows up to a strength of supernova explosion when the mass of the helium zone is large enough on a massive white dwarf (> or approx. =0.7 M/sub sun/). Otherwise, shell flashes are relatively weak: Even then protons in the envelope are mixed into a helium convective zone, and it becomes a site of s-process nucleosynthesis.

• Research Organization: Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• OSTI ID: 6770846
• Journal Information: Astrophys. J.; (United States), Journal Name: Astrophys. J.; (United States) Vol. 257:1; ISSN ASJOA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640102* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BINARY STARS
DWARF STARS
ERUPTIVE VARIABLE STARS
HELIUM BURNING
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
ORIGIN
S PROCESS
STAR ACCRETION
STAR BURNING
STAR EVOLUTION
STARS
SUPERNOVAE
VARIABLE STARS
WHITE DWARF STARS