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Title:
Where Are the Magnetic White Dwarfs with Detached, Nondegenerate Companions?
Authors:
Liebert, James; Wickramsinghe, Dayal T.; Schmidt, Gary D.; Silvestri, Nicole M.; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Szkody, Paula; Ferrario, Lilia; Webbink, Ronald F.; Oswalt, Terry D.; Smith, J. Allyn; Lemagie, Mara P.
Affiliation:
AA(Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721; , .), AB(Department of Applied Mathematics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia; , .), AC(Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721; , .), AD(Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195; , , , .), AE(Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195; , , , .), AF(Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195; , , , .), AG(Department of Applied Mathematics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia; , .), AH(Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois, 1002 West Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801; .), AI(Florida Institute of Technology, Physics and Space Science, 150 West University Boulevard, Melbourne, FL 32901; .), AJ(Los Alamos National Laboratory, ISR-4, MS D448, Los Alamos, NM 87545; .), AK(Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195; , , , .)
Publication:
The Astronomical Journal, Volume 129, Issue 5, pp. 2376-2381. (AJ Homepage)
Publication Date:
05/2005
Origin:
UCP
AJ Keywords:
Stars: Binaries: Close, Stars: Novae, Cataclysmic Variables, Stars: Magnetic Fields, Stars: White Dwarfs
DOI:
10.1086/429639
Bibliographic Code:
2005AJ....129.2376L

Abstract

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey has already more than doubled the sample of white dwarfs with spectral classifications, the subset with detached M dwarf companions, and the subset of magnetic white dwarfs. In the course of assessing these new discoveries, we have noticed a curious, unexpected property of the total lists of magnetic white dwarfs and of white dwarf plus main-sequence binaries: there appears to be virtually zero overlap between the two samples! No confirmed magnetic white dwarf has yet been found in such a pairing with a main-sequence star. The same statement can be made for the samples of white dwarf-M dwarf pairs in wide, common proper motion systems. This contrasts with the situation for interacting binaries, in which an estimated 25% of the accreting systems have a magnetic white dwarf primary. Alternative explanations are discussed for the observed absence of magnetic white dwarf-main-sequence pairs, but the recent discoveries of very low accretion rate magnetic binaries pose difficulties for each. A plausible explanation may be that the presence of the companion and the likely large mass and small radius of the magnetic white dwarf (relative to nonmagnetic degenerate dwarfs) may provide a selection effect against the discovery of the latter in such binary systems. More careful analysis of the existing samples may yet uncover members of this class of binary, and the sample sizes will continue to grow. The question of whether the mass and field distributions of the magnetic primaries in interacting binaries are similar to those of the isolated magnetic white dwarfs (including those in wider binaries) must also be answered.
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