热亚矮星的研究进展

热亚矮星以其独特的性质受到人们日益关注.它们是年老椭圆星系中良好的紫外源,系统地研究热亚矮星的观测特征和形成机制可以帮助我们理解恒星演化、椭圆星系中"紫外超"现象的起源和球状星团的动力学演化.热亚矮星的形成模型主要包括单星模型和双星模型.双星模型包含三种渠道:公共包层抛射渠道、稳定的洛希瓣物质交流渠道和双氦白矮星并合渠道.该文系统地总结了热亚矮星的观测特征,并简要介绍了它们的形成机制.     

贫金属富碳天琴RR变星的形成

贫金属富碳恒星(Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor, CEMP)是研究宇宙早期恒星性质和化学演化的极佳样本,通常认为来自双星.目前发现的贫金属富碳星中有9颗天琴RR变星(RR Lyrae star, RRL),其中至少7颗未表现出任何双星特征.传统双星物质转移模型不足以充分解释贫金属富碳天琴RR变星(CEMP-RR Lyrae)单星的形成.之前研究表明氦白矮星和赫氏空隙星(HG)的并合模型可以解释部分富碳红巨星单星的碳增丰现象,因此贫金属富碳星单星也可能来自氦白矮星和赫氏空隙星的并合模型渠道.通过详细计算的氦白矮星和赫氏空隙星并合模型来检验这一演化渠道,结果表明:该并合模型在后续的演化过程中,其重力加速度、温度、表面碳丰度均能与观测符合较好.由此,氦白矮星和赫氏空隙星并合模型极有可能是贫金属富碳天琴RR变星的形成渠道之一.     

恒星类太阳和类长周期变星脉动激发机制的理论探讨

利用一种非局部和非定常的恒星对流理论,计算了0.6～3.0 M☉恒星演化模型的线性非绝热脉动.结果表明,赫罗图上脉动不稳定带右方的脉动不稳定的低温恒星可以分成2大类(群).一类由主序矮星、亚巨星和中低光度红巨星组成的类太阳振荡恒星,它们的中高阶(径向阶nr≥12)p模是脉动不稳定的,而低阶(nr≤ 5)模是脉动稳定的;另一类是由亮的红巨星和渐近巨星支星(AGB)组成的类长周期变星,它们的低阶模(nr≤5)是脉动不稳定的,而高阶模(nr≥12)却是脉动稳定的.能利用对流与脉动的耦合统一解释造父变星脉动不稳定带红边界、类太阳和类长周期变星脉动.对赫罗图右方的低温恒星的中低阶p模振荡,对流与脉动的耦合是主要的脉动激发和阻尼机制,而湍流的随机激发机制仅对类太阳振荡高阶p模重要.     

红亚矮星研究进展

红亚矮星是甚小质量恒星中的贫金属成员,质量从约0.5M⊙(M⊙为太阳质量)到H燃烧的最小质量(0:075M⊙0:085M⊙,取决于金属丰度),其寿命长于哈勃年龄,是银河系结构和化学增丰史的重要示踪体。与银盘上数量最多的恒星成员红矮星不同,红亚矮星在太阳附近非常稀少,并且其运动学特征与盘矮星有较大差异,属于年老银河系星族,即为年老盘星族、厚盘星族或晕星族。观测上,红亚矮星可以根据其不同于红矮星的自行、测光和光谱特征被识别和证认。由于其恒星表面大气温度很低,并且颜色比同质量的矮星更蓝,因此红亚矮星在赫罗图上位于主序带末端的下方,介于矮星与白矮星之间。红亚矮星的光学波段光谱由金属氧化物(如TiO和VO)和氢化物(如CaH和H2O)的分子吸收带占主导。红亚矮星可按其光谱形态和分子带特征分成不同的光谱型和金属丰度等级,其中晚M型到早L型的亚矮星既可能是小质量的恒星,也可能是较大质量的年轻褐矮星。介绍了对红亚矮星研究的历史背景和前沿动态,详细阐述了光谱分析方法在研究亚矮星中的重要性,以及根据光谱特征对亚矮星进行分类的方法。最后,总结了甚小质量恒星大气模型的发展过程,并探讨了如何利用模型对亚矮星的大气参数进行估算等热点问题。     

上部主序星非径向脉动不稳定模

根据非局部和非定常恒星对流理论,计算了质量3～30 M_⊙恒星演化模型低球谐阶(l=1～4)p4～g39非径向模的线性非绝热脉动,研究了对流对非径向脉动的影响.结果表明,对流对恒星非径向脉动稳定性有不可忽略的影响.然而假若不关注单个恒星和单个振动模的细节,从总体上粗略地看,理论的脉动不稳定区的大致位置和范围并未受到对流的明显影响.     

脉动稳定性对恒星对流包层氦丰度的依赖

捅姜利用一种非局部和非定常的恒星对流理论,计算了3种不同氦丰度(Y=0.28,0.13,0.00)、太阳金属丰度(Z=0.02)、质量1.4~3.0 M_☉恒星演化模型的径向和低球谐阶F-p8模的线性非绝热脉动.数值计算结果表明,理论的δScuti变星脉动不稳定区红边界几乎不随氦丰度变化而改变.随着氦丰度降低,δScuti变星脉动不稳定区蓝边界向低温方向推移,脉动不稳定区中热方的高温星变得脉动更稳定;而冷方的低温星则变得脉动更不稳定.这似乎表明不大可能用氦弥散去解释δScuti脉动不稳定带中的不变星.然而脉动不稳定带热方和冷方中的不变星与变星的比例可能作为是否存在氦弥散的一种观测证据.     

轻夸克物质团、奇异子和致密矮星

相对于核物质和奇异夸克物质, 仅由两味夸克构成的轻夸克物质(即ud夸克物质)有可能更稳定. 而对于由这三类物质构成的典型物质集团, 研究发现如果ud夸克物质具有较大的对称能, 那么其物质团会在特定大小(重子数$A\approx1000$)时最稳定. 在这种情况下, 就可能存在由ud夸克物质团和电子构成的致密矮星, 即ud夸克矮星. 通过进一步研究这类ud夸克矮星的结构可知: 相较于传统的由原子核和电子构成的白矮星, ud夸克矮星通常具有较小的半径, 而被正常物质覆盖的ud夸克矮星的半径则在它们之间, 这与最近观测到的质量和半径都异常小的白矮星相符.     

低部主序恒星锂和铍的衰减

根据化学非均匀恒星的非局部对流理论,计算了质量为0．7-1．15M(?)恒星主序演化模型锂和铍的衰减,并将理论和不同年龄疏散星团锂丰度的观测进行了比较．结果表明,贯穿对流混合能重现温度低于6400 K的晚型主序星锂丰度观测的一般性质．贯穿对流混合可能是晚型矮星锂衰减的一种重要机制．     

AGB星氦燃烧壳层源出现非稳定热核反应的判据

建立了热脉动AGB星氦燃烧壳层源出现非稳定热核反应的判据,新判据包含 了丰富的物理信息,它不仅与热脉动AGB星氦燃烧壳层源的几何性质有关,而且与氦燃 烧壳层源的力学、热学和化学的性质都有关． 提出了热脉动AGB星氦燃烧壳层源非稳定热核反应的发生和消失的机理,它可表述 为:热脉动AGB星氦燃烧壳层源的局部区域出现对流不稳定区会触发非稳定热核反应的 发生,非稳定热核反应会促使氦燃烧壳层源急速膨胀,氦燃烧壳层源的急速几何形变会消 除非稳定热核反应． 用改进后的Kippenhahn恒星演化程序对5M(?)恒星进行了从主序星到热脉动AGB 星的演化模型计算,结果表明新判据能很好地反映5M(?)AGB星氦燃烧壳层源的热核反应 情况．并得出5M(?)热脉动AGB星在第6次热脉动周期阶段,被挖掘到热脉动AGB星 表面的元素主要是在温度lgT2／K<8．155和密度4．0相似文献   

Ia型超新星的爆发机制及其前身星模型

Ia型超新星作为测量遥远星系距离——从而测定宇宙膨胀速率——的“标准烛光”，已经成为宇宙学中具有重要意义的天体。从某些方面来讲，Ia型超新星仍属于神秘天体(或爆发事件)，其前身星及爆发模型还没有得到很好的理解，当前的观测不足以对理论模型作出精确的限制。然而有很好的理由相信大多数Ia型超新星可能是由接近钱德拉塞卡质量极限(≈1.39M⊙)的碳—氧白矮星通过聚变中心的碳和氧所引发的热按爆炸产生的。至于这一爆发通过何种机制完成，例如具体到Ia型超新星爆发时的流体动力学过程，仍存在分歧。最近爆燃阶段的三维数值模拟结果似乎表明，在Ia型超新星爆发晚期引入爆轰机制是没有必要的。另一方面，尽管当前的多数证据表明，C—O白矮星 主序星(或红巨星)的演化模式比C-O白矮星 C-O白矮星的演化模式可能更合理，但双简并白矮星的前身星模型并不能被排除，因为它们能解释一些特殊的Ia型超新星爆发。     

Formation of Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor RR Lyrae Stars

Carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars are considered to be related to the first generation of stars, and responsible for the chemical evolution of the early Galaxy. More than half of them are in binaries, and could be explained by the binary evolution, but the formation channel of them is still not fully understood. Among the hundreds of CEMP stars, there are nine CEMP RR Lyrae stars identified, and at least seven of which are very likely not binaries. The usual binary star evolution channel is difficult to produce such a single star, particularly that of carbon enrichment. One way in which such a single star might be produced is the merger of a helium white dwarf with a Hertzsprung gap (HG) star. We use a stellar evolution program to calculate the models of the merger remnants, and find that the models can reproduce the observed distribution of these CEMP single RR Lyrae stars in terms of surface temperature, gravity, and carbon abundance. Hence, it is extremely possible that the helium white dwarf and HG star merger model is one of the formation channels of the metal-poor carbon-rich RR Lyrae stars.     

The evolution of a rapidly accreting helium white dwarf to become a low-luminosity helium star

We have examined the evolution of merged low-mass double white dwarfs which become low-luminosity (or high-gravity) extreme helium stars. We have approximated the merging process by the rapid accretion of matter, consisting mostly of helium, on to a helium white dwarf. After a certain mass is accumulated, a helium shell flash occurs, the radius and luminosity increase and the star becomes a yellow giant. Mass accretion is stopped artificially when the total mass reaches a pre-determined value. As the helium-burning shell moves inwards with repeating shell flashes, the effective temperature gradually increases as the star evolves towards the helium main sequence. When the mass interior to the helium‐burning shell is approximately 0.25 M_⊙, the star enters a regime where it is pulsationally unstable. We have obtained radial pulsation periods for these models.
These models have properties very similar to those of the pulsating helium star V652 Her. We have compared the rate of period change of the theoretical models with that observed in V652 Her, as well as with its position on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. We conclude that the merger between two helium white dwarfs can produce a star with properties remarkably similar to those observed in at least one extreme helium star, and is a viable model for their evolutionary origin. Such helium stars will evolve to become hot subdwarfs close to the helium main sequence. We also discuss the number of low-luminosity helium stars in the Galaxy expected for our evolution scenario.     

The masses of sdB and sdO stars

Mass is a fundamental parameter, but the masses are not well known for most hot subdwarfs. We propose a method of determining the masses of hot subdwarfs. Using this method, we studied the masses of hot subdwarfs from the ESO supernova Ia progenitor survey and the Hamburg quasar survey. The study shows that most of the subdwarf B stars have masses between 0.42 and 0.54 M _⊙, whilst most sdO stars are in the range 0.40～0.55 M _⊙. Comparing our study to the theoretical mass distributions of Han et al. (Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 341:669, 2003), we found that sdO stars with mass less than ～0.5 M _⊙ may evolve from sdB stars, whilst most high-mass (>0.5 M _⊙) sdO stars result from mergers directly.     

The effect of galaxy mass ratio on merger-driven starbursts

We employ numerical simulations of galaxy mergers to explore the effect of galaxy mass ratio on merger-driven starbursts. Our numerical simulations include radiative cooling of gas, star formation, and stellar feedback to follow the interaction and merger of four disc galaxies. The galaxy models span a factor of 23 in total mass and are designed to be representative of typical galaxies in the local universe. We find that the merger-driven star formation is a strong function of merger mass ratio, with very little, if any, induced star formation for large mass ratio mergers. We define a burst efficiency that is useful to characterize the merger-driven star formation and test that it is insensitive to uncertainties in the feedback parametrization. In accord with previous work we find that the burst efficiency depends on the structure of the primary galaxy. In particular, the presence of a massive stellar bulge stabilizes the disc and suppresses merger-driven star formation for large mass ratio mergers. Direct, coplanar merging orbits produce the largest tidal disturbance and yield the most intense burst of star formation. Contrary to naive expectations, a more compact distribution of gas or an increased gas fraction both decrease the burst efficiency. Owing to the efficient feedback model and the newer version of smoothed particle hydrodynamics employed here, the burst efficiencies of the mergers presented here are smaller than in previous studies.     

Non-Radial Pulsations in Components of Symbiotic Stars

Photometric observations of symbiotic stars in the blue and in the red spectral regions make it possible to reveal non-radial oscillations both of the cool and of the hot components. Light variations of red giants in the symbiotic systems CI Cyg and AG Peg show several periods in the 10–80^d range, interpreted as p-mode pulsations. These modes are excited by a bright spot produced by radiation flux from the hot component. The spot moves on the red giant’s photosphere at a velocity close to the sound speed. During the active phase of the symbiotic star CH Cyg, at least 25 frequencies of oscillations in the 150–6000 s range of periods were found in the light of the white dwarf. Their features correspond to non-radial g-modes. In the frame of 2D gas dynamical non-adiabatic models, the interaction between gas flows and the accretion disk leads to formation of a system of shock waves propagating towards the compact object, which is one of possible mechanisms to excite non-radial pulsations of white dwarfs in symbiotic systems.     

Predicting the properties of the remnants of dissipative galaxy mergers

We construct a physically motivated model for predicting the properties of the remnants of gaseous galaxy mergers, given the properties of the progenitors and the orbit. The model is calibrated using a large suite of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) merger simulations. It implements generalized energy conservation while accounting for dissipative energy losses and star formation. The dissipative effects are evaluated from the initial gas fractions and from the orbital parameters via an 'impulse' parameter, which characterizes the strength of the encounter. Given the progenitor properties, the model predicts the remnant stellar mass, half-mass radius and velocity dispersion to an accuracy of 25 per cent. The model is valid for both major and minor mergers. We provide an explicit recipe for semi-analytic models of galaxy formation.     

The X-ray emission in post-merger ellipticals

The evolution in X-ray properties of early-type galaxies is largely unconstrained. In particular, little is known about how, and if, remnants of mergers generate hot gas haloes. Here we examine the relationship between X-ray luminosity and galaxy age for a sample of early-type galaxies. Comparing normalized X-ray luminosity to three different age indicators, we find that L _X L _B increases with age, suggesting an increase in X-ray halo mass with time after the last major star formation episode of a galaxy. The long-term nature of this trend, which appears to continue across the full age range of our sample, poses a challenge for many models of hot halo formation. We conclude that models involving a declining rate of type Ia supernovae, and a transition from outflow to inflow of the gas originally lost by galactic stars, offer the most promising explanation for the observed evolution in X-ray luminosity.     

Modelling star formation and feedback in simulations of interacting galaxies

We discuss a heuristic model to implement star formation and feedback in hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation and evolution. In this model, gas is allowed to cool radiatively and to form stars at a rate given by a simple Schmidt-type law. We assume that supernova feedback results in turbulent motions of gas below resolved scales, a process that can pressurize the diffuse gaseous medium effectively, even if it lacks substantial thermal support. Ignoring the complicated detailed physics of the feedback processes, we try to describe their net effect on the interstellar medium with a fiducial second reservoir of internal energy, which accounts for the kinetic energy content of the gas on unresolved scales. Applying the model to three-dimensional, fully self-consistent models of isolated disc galaxies, we show that the resulting feedback loop can be modelled with smoothed particle hydrodynamics such that converged results can be reached with moderate numerical resolution. With an appropriate choice of the free parameters, Kennicutt's phenomenological star formation law can be reproduced over many orders of magnitude in gas surface density. We also apply the model to mergers of equal-mass disc galaxies, typically resulting in strong nuclear starbursts. Confirming previous findings, the presence of a bulge can delay the onset of the starburst from the first encounter of the galaxies until their final coalescence. The final density profiles of the merger remnants are consistent with de Vaucouleurs profiles, except for the innermost region, where the newly created stars give rise to a luminous core with stellar densities that may be in excess of those observed in the cores of most elliptical galaxies. By comparing the isophotal shapes of collisionless and dissipative merger simulations we show that dissipation leads to isophotes that are more discy than those of corresponding collisionless simulations.