Abstract
In this paper we dynamically determine the quadrupole mass moment Q of the magnetic white dwarf WD 0137-349 by looking for deviations from the third Kepler law induced by Q in the orbital period of the recently discovered brown dwarf moving around it in a close 2-hr orbit. It turns out that a purely Newtonian model for the orbit of WD 0137-349B, assumed circular and equatorial, is adequate, given the present-day accuracy in knowing the orbital parameters of such a binary system. Our result is Q=(−1.5±0.9)×1047 kg m2 for i=35 deg. It is able to accommodate the 3-sigma significant discrepancy of (1.0±0.3)×10−8 s−2 between the inverse square of the phenomenologically determined orbital period and the inverse square of the calculated Keplerian one. The impact of i, for which an interval Δ i of possible values close to 35 deg is considered, is investigated as well.
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Iorio, L. Dynamical determination of the quadrupole mass moment of a white dwarf. Astrophys Space Sci 310, 73–76 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-007-9415-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-007-9415-x