Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004. / On title page "[mu]" appears as Greek symbol. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 167-180).

Thesis (M.S.)--Ball State University, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on June 07, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. [46]).

Observations of AB Doradus, a nearby, rapidly-rotating K0 dwarf are analysed, and the surface magnetic field is shown to be approximated by a potential field. Evolving the surface magnetic field according to diffusion and the observed differential rotation still yields good correlation between the calculated and observed radial field after 30 days, contradictory to the results of Barnes et al. (1998), leading to the conclusion that there is an additional cause for the evolution of the magnetic field. The chromospheric magnetic field is modelled as a potential field with a source surface. Using the stability criteria g.B = 0 and B.V(g.B) < 0, places where prominences can be stable are investigated. For agreement with the results of Donati et al. (2000)- that prominences form preferentially near the equatorial plane and at and beyond corotation- it is necessary to add a quasidipolar field of maximum strength ~20G.

We report on a search for short -period binary systems composed of pairs of evolved stars. The search is being carried out concurrently with a program to characterize the kinematical properties of two different samples of stars. Each sample has produced one close binary candidate for which further spectroscopic observations are planned. We also recapitulate the discovery of a close detached binary system composed of two cool DA white dwarfs, and we discuss the null results of Ha observations of the suspected white dwarf /brown dwarf system G 29-38.

We report on high dispersion spectroscopy of the Ha absorption line of the cool DA white dwarf G 29 -38. This is the star for which a recently detected infrared excess has been suggested to be due to a possible brown dwarf companion by Zuckerman and Becklin (1986, 1987). Three echelle spectra obtained at the Multiple Mirror Telescope and at the Kitt Peak Mayall 4m telescope in 1987 December show no evidence for radial velocity variations larger than -'1.1 ± 8.7 km s -1 and are used to derive a weighted heliocentric radial velocity Vr = 33.7 ± 4.3 km s -1 for the white dwarf. No emission component from the hypothesized secondary star is detected. These negative results do not constitute strong evidence against the companion hypothesis, since the expected orbital velocity of the white dwarf component could be quite small, and the companion's line emission could be too faint to be detected. However, the observation of a sharp absorption line core restricts the possible rotation of the white dwarf to < 40 km s -1 and ensures that any surface magnetic field has a strength < 105 gauss. These results make it unlikely that the DA white dwarf has previously been in a cataclysmic variable accretion phase.

We search for planets and brown dwarves around white dwarves (WDs). Finding extra-solar planets is the first step toward establishing the existence and abundance of life in the Universe. The low mass and luminosity of WDs make them ideal stars to search for low mass companion objects. Theoretical predictions generally agree that a star will consume and destroy close-in, low mass planets as it ascends the red giant and asymptotic giant branch evolutionary tracks, but larger mass objects and those further out will survive. The matter ejected from the star as it evolves into a white dwarf may also be accreted onto daughter planets, or may coalesce into a disk from which planets can form. We employ two techniques to search for planets and brown dwarves (BDs) around WDs. A subset of pulsating white dwarf stars have a pulsational stability that rivals pulsars and atomic clocks. When a planet is in orbit around a such a star the orbital motion of the star around the centre of mass is detectable as a change in arrival times of the otherwise stable pulsations. We search for, and find, a sample of suitable pulsators, monitor them for between three and four years, and place limits on companions by constraining the variation consistent with a 2.4M[subscript J] planet in a 4.6 year orbit. We also observe a large sample of WDs to search for a mid-infrared excess caused by the presence of sub-stellar companions. We present evidence for a potential binary system consisting of a WD and a BD on the basis of an observed excess flux at near and mind-infrared wavelengths. We also place limits on the presence of planetary mass companions around those stars and compare our results to predictions of planetary survival theories. Our findings do not support suggestions of planet formation or accretion of extra mass during stellar death.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Photometric data on the Kron-Cousins photometric system have been obtained for 118 new late K to middle M-type stars with known distances. These data have been used to obtain absolute red magnitudes, to construct a color-magnitude diagram, and to compute a polynomial function for disk dwarf stars in the color range 1.5 ≤ R-I < 2.0, which can be used to compute absolute red magnitudes to be used for photometric parallaxes. Such photometric parallaxes allow new stellar distance estimations that are essential when modeling the spatial distribution of stars in our Galaxy. This is especially important for M-type stars, as they make up more than half of the mass of the Milky Way. Intermediate-band CaH observations have also been obtained in an ongoing effort to distinguish stellar luminosity classes and populations; R-L and R-I colors are used to identify possible subdwarf stars. A total of seven possible new subdwarfs and three previously known subdwarfs have been identified with this method. / Department of Physics and Astronomy

As the endpoints of stars less massive than roughly eight solar masses, the population of Galactic white dwarfs (WD) contain information about complex stellar evolution processes. Associated pairs of WDs add an extra degree of leverage; both WDs must have formed and evolved together. The work presented in this dissertation uses various populations of double WDs (DWD) to constrain evolution of both single and binary stars. One example is the set of low-mass WDs with unseen WD companions, which are formed through a dynamically-unstable mass loss process called the common envelope. To work toward a quantitative understanding of the common envelope, we develop and apply a Bayesian statistical technique to identify the masses of the unseen WD companions. We provide results which can be compared to evolutionary models and hence a deeper understanding of how binary stars evolve through a common envelope. The statistical technique we develop can be applied to any population of single-line spectroscopic binaries. Binaries widely separated enough that they avoid any significant interaction independently evolve into separate WDs that can be identified in photometric and astrometric surveys. We discuss techniques for finding these objects, known as wide DWDs. We present a catalog of 142 candidate wide DWDs, combining both previously detected systems and systems we identify in our searches in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Having been born at the same time, the masses and cooling ages of the WDs in wide DWDs, obtained with our spectroscopic follow-up campaign can be used to constrain the initial-final mass relation, which relates a main sequence star to the mass of the WD into which it will evolve. We develop a novel Bayesian technique to interpret our data and present our resulting constraints on this relation which are particularly strong for initial masses between two and four solar masses. During this process, we identified one wide DWD, HS 2220+2146, that was peculiar since the more massive WD in this system evolved second. We construct an evolutionary formation scenario in which the system began as a hierarchical triple in which the inner binary merged (possibly due to Kozai-Lidov oscillations) forming a post-blue straggler binary. The system then evolved into the DWD we observe today. We further discuss the potential for identifying more wide DWDs, including peculiar systems like HS 2220+2146, in future surveys such as Gaia.

This dissertation uses radio observations with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to investigate the mechanisms that power and shape accreting white dwarfs (WD) and their ejecta. We test the predictions of both simple spherical and steady-state radio emission models by examining nova V1723 Aql, nova V5589 Sgr, symbiotic CH Cyg, and two small surveys of symbiotic binaries. First, we highlight classical nova V1723 Aql with three years of radio observations alongside optical and X-ray observations. We use these observations to show that multiple outflows from the system collided to create early non-thermal shocks with a brightness temperature of ⪆10⁶ K. While the late-time radio light curve is roughly consistent an expanding thermal shell of mass 2x10⁻⁴ M ⊙ solar masses, resolved images of V1723 Aql show elongated material that apparently rotates its major axis over the course of 15 months, much like what is seen in gamma-ray producing nova V959 Mon, suggesting similar structures in the two systems. Next, we examine nova V5589 Sgr, where we find that the early radio emission is dominated by a shock-powered non-thermal flare that produces strong (kTₓ > 33 keV) X-rays. We additionally find roughly 10⁻⁵ M⊙ solar masses of thermal bremsstrahlung emitting material, all at a distance of ~4 kpc. The similarities in the evolution of both V1723 Aql and V5589 Sgr to that of nova V959 Mon suggest that these systems may all have dense equatorial tori shaping faster flows at their poles. Turning our focus to symbiotic binaries, we first use our radio observations of CH Cyg to link the ejection of a collimated jet to a change of state in the accretion disk. We additionally estimate the amount of mass ejected during this period (10⁻⁷ M⊙ masses), and improve measurements of the period of jet precession (P=12013 +/- 74 days). We then use our survey of eleven accretion-driven symbiotic systems to determine that the radio brightness of a symbiotic system could potentially be used as an indicator of whether a symbiotic is powered predominantly by shell burning on the surface of the WD or by accretion. We additionally make the first ever radio detections of seven of the targets in our survey. Our survey of seventeen radio bright symbiotics, comparing observations before and after the upgrades to the VLA, shows the technological feasibility to resolve the nebulae of nearby symbiotic binaries, opening the door for new lines of research. We spatially resolve extended structure in several symbiotic systems in radio for the first time. Additionally, our observations reveal extreme radio variability in symbiotic BF Cyg before and after the production of a jet from the system. Our results from our surveys of symbiotics provide some support for the model of radio emission where the red giant wind is photoionized by the WD, and suggests that there may be a greater population of radio faint, accretion driven symbiotic systems. This work emphasizes the powerful nature of radio observations as a tool for understanding eruptive WD binaries and their outflows.