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We present a spectroscopic analysis of white dwarfs found in the Kiso survey. Spectroscopic observations at high signal-to-noise ratio have been obtained for all DA and DB stars in the Kiso Schmidt ultraviolet excess survey (KUV stars). These observations led to the reclassification of several KUV objects, including the discovery of three unresolved DA+DB double degenerate binaries. The atmospheric parameters (Teff and log g) are obtained from detailed model atmosphere fits to optical spectroscopic data. The mass distribution of our sample is characterized by a mean value of 0.606 Msun and a dispersion of 0.135 Msun for DA stars, and 0.758 Msun and a dispersion of 0.192 Msun for DB stars. Absolute visual magnitudes obtained from our spectroscopic fits allow us to derive an improved luminosity function for the DA and DB stars identified in the Kiso survey. Our luminosity function is found to be significantly different from earlier estimates based on empirical photometric calibrations of Mv for the same sample. The results for the DA stars now appear entirely consistent with those obtained for the PG survey using the same spectroscopic approach. The space density for DA stars with Mv, 44 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

We present a comprehensive analysis of the far-ultraviolet spectra offive DB white dwarfs spanning the effective temperature range between 14,700 and 20,800 K. The FUSE line analysis shows that carbon features, previously observed in several hot DB stars at or above 22,000 K, are present in the two coolest (GD 408 and GD 378) and in the hottest (G270� 124) target. The observed carbon abundances range from log N(C)/N(He) �� 6: 9t o �� 8:8. In addition, fourofthefiveobjectsdisplayphotosphericlinesof silicon. Otherelementssuchasoxygen,iron,andsulfur are also observed in some objects. The variations of the abundances of heavy elements as a function of effective temperature in DB stars are discussed in terms of a competition between a stellar wind, gravitational settling, accretion from interstellar (and circumstellar) matter, and convective dredge-up. Subject headingg ultraviolet: stars — white dwarfs

We present a comprehensive analysis of the far-ultraviolet spectra of three DB white dwarfs secured with the FUSE observatory. Transitions associated with various carbon ions are detected in all three objects. Atmospheric parameters are first redetermined on the basis of an analysis of archival data available, and the abundance of carbon, together with upper limits on the abundances of 11 other heavy elements, is determined from the FUSE spectra. The log(C/He) ratios cover the range between -5.5 and -6.0. The presence of carbon, now detected in five DB stars with effective temperatures above 20,000 K, cannot be accounted for easily by physical processes currently thought to operate in the envelopes of DB stars. We suggest that a weak stellar wind threading the outer stellar layers of DB stars might sufficiently disrupt the settling of carbon left over from the PG 1159 phase to account for the carbon seen in the ultraviolet spectra of these objects.

We have secured optical spectra for the eight currently known variable DB, or V777 Her, stars. With the help of a new generation of synthetic spectra, spectroscopic effective temperatures are derived for these objects, as well as for 15 other DB or DBA stars above 20,000 K. We find that the location of the boundaries of the instability strip is sensitive to the atmospheric hydrogen abundance assumed for DB stars: the strip covers the range 22,400-27,800 K if atmospheres of pure helium are used and the range 21,800-24,700 K if undetectable traces of hydrogen are allowed for in the DB models. These determinations provide independent constraints for current seismological analyses of the V777 Her stars. More sensitive searches for weak hydrogen features in hot DB stars should help decide between the two temperature scales.

A new type of oscillation, the so-called atmospheric oscillations resulting from the response of stellar atmospheres to propagating acoustic waves, must be present in white dwarfs with chromospheric activity. Since these oscillations exist only in atmospheres with an outward temperature increase, they can be used as a new indicator of chromospheric activity in white dwarfs. Theoretical predictions of periods and amplitudes of the oscillations are given for selected DA and DB stars. The best candidates for detection of these oscillations are also identified.

Multichannel observations or reobservations of all DB white dwarfs accessible from Palomar Observatory, reduced and calibrated with the AB79 program of Oke and Gunn (1983), have been compared by least squares fitting procedures with energy distributions calculated from new model atmospheres with He:H = 100,000 and reduced metal content He:C = 1,000,000. The surface gravities and temperatures derived reveal for the first time a definitive cooling sequence for the DB stars, with a narrow mass distribution comparable to that of the DA white dwarfs. The mass range, 0.55 + or - 0.10 solar mass, almost coincides with the range derived for DA, DC, and C2 stars and therefore suggests that the progenitors for all these stars are the same. Spectroscopic distance determinations and comparison with cooling ages demonstrate that DB stars account for about one-tenth of the total white dwarf birthrate.

Detections of calcium in two DBA stars and in two DB stars as well as possible detections of calcium and/or hydrogen in three additional DB degenerates, from moderate-resolution spectra obtained at the Multiple Mirror Telescope are reported. Calcium and hydrogen abundances and abundance limits which are close to the cosmic abundance have been derived. This finding would appear to indicate that accretion of interstellar hydrogen and grains can effectively occur in some single helium-rich degenerates up to effective temperatures of at least 20,000 K. If a propeller mechanism is operative in DB stars, the results would suggest that the mechanism may break down or be less efficient in a significant fraction of these objects. 23 references.

Seismological observations with the Whole Earth Telescope (WET) allow the determination of the subsurface compositional structure of white dwarf stars. The hot DO PG 1159 has a helium surface layer with a mass of 0.001 Msun, while the cooler DB white dwarf GD 358 has a much thinner surface helium layer of 10^-6 Msun. These results imply that either there is no evolutionary relation between these two stars, or that there is an unknown mass loss mechanism. To investigate possible evolutionary links between these objects, we computed evolutionary sequences of white dwarf models including time-dependent diffusion. Our initial model is based on the PG~1159 pulsational data, and has a surface composition of 30% helium, 35% carbon, and 35% oxygen. Below this is a thin transition zone where the helium fraction falls to zero. As expected, diffusion caused a separation of the elements; a thickening surface layer of nearly pure helium overlays a deepening transition zone where the composition returns to the original surface composition. When the model reached the temperature range of GD~358 and the pulsating DB white dwarfs, this pure helium surface layer was 3x10^-6 stellar masses deep. The resulting evolved model is very similar to the model used by Bradley and Winget (1994) to match the pulsation observations of GD 358. The pulsation periods of this model also show a good fit to the WET observations. These results demonstrate the plausibility of a direct evolutionary path from PG 1159 stars to the much cooler DB white dwarfs by inclusion of time-dependent diffusion. A problem still remains in that our models have no hydrogen, and thus must retain their DB nature while their surface tempeture drops from 45,000K to 30,000K. Since there are no known DB stars in this range, we plan to address this problem in future calculations., Comment: LaTeX, 10 pages, using AAS Macros. 2 PostScript figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Theoretical models of DB white dwarfs are unstable against radial pulsation at effective temperatures near 20,000-30,000 K. Many high-overtone modes are unstable, with periods ranging from 12 s down to the acoustic cutoff period of approximately 0.1 s. The blue edge for radial instability lies at slightly higher effective temperatures than for nonradial pulsations, with the temperature of the blue edge dependent on the assumed efficiency of convection. Models with increased convective efficiency have radial blue edges that are increasingly closer to the nonradial blue edge; in all models the instability persists into the nonradial instability strip. Radial pulsations therefore may exist in the hottest DB stars that lie below the DB gap; the greatest chance for detection would be observations in the ultraviolet. These models also explain why searches for radial pulsations in DA white dwarfs have failed: the efficient convection needed to explain the blue edge for nonradial DA pulsation means that the radial instability strip is 1000 K cooler than found in previous investigations. The multiperiodic nature of the expected pulsations can be used to advantage to identify very low amplitude modes using the uniform spacing of the modes in frequency. This frequency spacing is a direct indicator of the mass of the star.

The detection of the He I 4471 A feature in the moderately hot DA white dwarf G104 - 27 places this star within the rather sparse class of DAB white dwarfs. It does not appear possible, on the basis of the present data, to distinguish between a stratified and a homogeneously mixed atmosphere. While a stratified structure would be natural for a DA white dwarf, G104 - 27 resides near the red edge of the DB gap, in a region where DA stars could transform into DB stars through convective mixing in the underlying He envelope and thereby destroy envelope stratification. Both atmospheres are consistent with the existing soft X-ray flux limit for this star.

CCD spectrophotometry is presented of 140 white dwarfs at high SNR and is analyzed in detail. Energy distributions at 14,000 A are given at bandpasses from 3571 to 8300 A, and equivalent widths of lines of H, He I, metals, and atomic and molecular carbon are given as functions of color for DB, DQ, DZ, and DA stars. New forbidden H I transitions at 6068 A and 6632 A are found in at least the two hottest DB stars, new metallic features are found in cooler DZ stars, and the presence of Ca I in vMa 2 is confirmed. The spectrum of the hot DQAB star G227 - 5 and the pressure-shifted carbon bands seen in 0038-226 are discussed in detail. Comparison of the optical energy distribution of the latter with published IR fluxes shows that the 1-2 micron region is strongly depressed, with extensive blanketing. Equivalent widths, central depths, and width parameters are presented for H-alpha in 73 DA stars in the sample, and their dependences on color are studied. 64 refs.

The problems of nonradiative heating of outer atmospheric layers and p-mode oscillations in white dwarfs caused by acoustic waves generated in convective zones are discussed. These effects have been studied by calculating the cutoff periods for adiabatic and isothermal waves propagating in atmospheres of DA and DB stars with Teff greater than or equal 20,000 K and log g = 6-9. The obtained cutoff periods are approximately bounded by 0.01 and 40 sec for high- and low-gravity white dwarfs, respectively. Expected amplitudes of p-mode oscillations corresponding to trapped acoustic waves with small angular wave numbers are estimated, indicating that the amplitudes could be observed as Doppler shifts of spectral lines which might be detectable if adequate spectral resolution were available. The luminosity variations corresponding to these amplitudes are unlikely to be observable when all damping processes are accounted for. Results also indicate that the present theory of convection predicts some irregularities in the behavior of physical parameters.

Low-dispersion radial velocities of 53 white dwarfs have been measured on Palomar spectrograms. Table 1 contains the type, velocity, space-motion components, photometrically deduced temperature and radius, for each star. Table 4 contains 39 additional radial velocities of very low weight. A few members of wide binary systems and 6 white dwarfs in the Hyades provide direct measures of the Einstein gravitational redshift, with a mean value of +51 km/sec. Omitting the very-high-velocity star LP9-231, there are 37 DA stars, with a mean K-term (expansion velocity) of +65.6 km/sec. If the Hyades stars are omitted, the mean K term is +62.5 km/sec. A number of white dwarfs are members of the high-velocity population. Systematic wavelength shifts of He i lines in DB stars make their velocities more negative than those of DA stars; similar negative shifts may exist for metallic lines. The temperature scale is obtained from colors and, combined with luminosities, gives radii. The broad distribution of radii and redshifts is shown in Figure 2, and median values are derived. The median radial velocity for 37 DA stars is +58 km/sec, and the median radius 0.0107 R_⊙; the redshift and radius give a mass of 0.98 M_⊙. However, this value is almost certainly too high, if we expect accordance with the theoretical mass-radius relation. The theoretical M-R relation of a zero-temperature degenerate star predicts a redshift, for given mass, for various compositions. Two corrections could bring the theoretically expected redshifts into agreement with the observations. Either a systematic change in luminosity, ΔM_v of +0.25 mag, or a reciprocal temperature change of Δθ = —0.03, reduces the median radius to 0.0093 R_⊙. The mass derived from the redshift is then 0.86 M_⊙. These values are in accordance with the Hamada-Salpeter mass-radius relation, if the composition in the interior is pure helium. A carbon or magnesium interior also gives a radius not too different from the colorimetric radius. An iron core gives a mass of 0.73 M_⊙, but a radius of 0.008 R_⊙, sufficiently smaller to require substantial changes in the temperature scale. The mass now derived from the radial velocities is higher than that previously found from radii only and closer to the Chandrasekhar limit.