Abstract
We present a number of open problems related to white dwarf research, where we expect significant progress to be made once the VLT and its instrumentation become available. These questions are intrinsic to white dwarf studies: chemical composition of surface layers and the determining physical processes; gravitational redshift and mass radius-relation; rotation; and magnetic fields. White dwarfs can, however, also be helpful to study questions of broader interest; as examples we discuss the critical mass for white dwarf formation vs. supernovae, or magnetic field decay in neutron stars.
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© 1995 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Koester, D. (1995). Problems and Prospects in White Dwarf Stars. In: Walsh, J.R., Danziger, I.J. (eds) Science with the VLT. ESO Astrophysics Symposia. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-49215-3_19
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-49215-3_19
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-22397-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-49215-3
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