Impact of Current Uncertainties in the 12C+12C Nuclear Reaction Rate on Intermediate-mass Stars and Massive White Dwarfs

• Published in: The Astrophysical journal Vol. 975; no. 2; pp. 259 - 268
• Main Authors: De Gerónimo, Francisco C., Miller Bertolami, Marcelo M., Battich, Tiara, Tang, Xiaodong, Catelan, Márcio, Córsico, Alejandro H., Li, Yunjun, Fang, Xiao, Althaus, Leandro G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia The American Astronomical Society 01-11-2024; IOP Publishing
• Subjects: Asymptotic giant branch stars; Asymptotic methods; Carbon 12; Composition; Cores; Crystallization; DA stars; Nuclear abundances; Nuclear reactions; Stellar evolution; Uncertainty; White dwarf stars
• ISSN: 0004-637X; 1538-4357
• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ad7d8e

Recent determinations of the total rate of the 12C+12C nuclear reaction show non-negligible differences with the reference reaction rate commonly used in previous stellar simulations. In addition, the current uncertainties in determining each exit channel constitute one of the main uncertainties in shaping the inner structure of super asymptotic giant branch stars that could have a measurable impact on the properties of pulsating ultramassive white dwarfs (WDs). We explore how new determinations of the nuclear reaction rate and its branching ratios affect the evolution of WD progenitors. We show that the current uncertainties in the branching ratios constitute the main uncertainty factor in determining the inner composition of ultramassive WDs and their progenitors. We found that the use of extreme branching ratios leads to differences in the central abundances of 20Ne of at most 17%, which are translated into differences of at most 1.3% and 0.8% in the cooling times and size of the crystallized core, respectively. However, the impact on the pulsation properties is small, less than 1 s for the asymptotic period spacing. We found that the carbon burns partially in the interior of ultramassive WD progenitors within a particular range of masses, leaving a hybrid CONe-core composition in their cores. The evolution of these new kinds of predicted objects differs substantially from the evolution of objects with pure CO cores. Differences in the size of the crystallized core and cooling times of up to 15% and 6%, respectively, lead to distinct patterns in the period spacing distribution.