White Dwarf Pulsational Constraints on Stellar Evolution

The complex processes that convert a protostellar cloud into a carbon/oxygen-core white dwarf star are distilled and modeled in state of the art stellar evolution codes. Many of these processes are well-constrained, but several are uncertain or must be parameterized in the models because a complete treatment would be computationally prohibitive—turbulent motions such as convective overshoot cannot, for example, be modeled in 1D. Various free parameters in the models must therefore be calibrated. We will discuss how white dwarf pulsations can inform such calibrations. The results of all prior evolution are cemented into the interiors of white dwarf stars and, so, hidden from view. However, during certain phases of their cooling, pulsations translate the star's evolutionary history into observable surface phenomena. Because the periods of a pulsating white dwarf star depend on an internal structure assembled as it evolved to its final state, white dwarf pulsation periods can be viewed as observable endpoints of stellar evolution. For example, the thickness of the helium layer in a white dwarf directly affects its pulsations; the observed periods are, therefore, a function of the number of thermal pulses during which the star converts helium into core material on the asymptotic giant branch. Because they are also a function of several other significant evolutionary processes, several pulsation modes are necessary to tease all of these apart. Unfortunately, white dwarf pulsators typically do not display enough oscillation modes to constrain stellar evolution. To avoid this limitation, we consider the pulsations of the entire collection of hot pulsating hydrogen-atmosphere white dwarf stars (DAVs). Though any one star may not have sufficient information to place interesting constraints on its evolutionary history, taken together, the stars show a pattern of modes that allows us to test evolutionary models. For an example set of published evolutionary models, we show a mismatch between this observed pattern and the one resulting from the model evolutionary history. Finally, we discuss the most likely parameters that can be tweaked to bring the theory in line with the observations.