arXiv · gr-qc/9903042
Stability of the r-modes in white dwarf stars
Abstract
Stability of the r-modes in rapidly rotating white dwarf stars is investigated. Improved estimates of the growth times of the gravitational-radiation driven instability in the r-modes of the observed DQ Her objects are found to be longer (probably considerably longer) than 6x10^9y. This rules out the possibility that the r-modes in these objects are emitting gravitational radiation at levels that could be detectable by LISA. More generally it is shown that the r-mode instability can only be excited in a very small subset of very hot (T>10^6K), rather massive (M>0.9M_sun) and very rapidly rotating (P_min 10^9y) to allow the amplitude to grow to a dynamically significant level. This makes it extremely unlikely that the r-mode instability plays a significant role in any real white dwarf stars.
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Lee Lindblom. 1999-03-11. Stability of the r-modes in white dwarf stars. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.60.064007
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