An empirical initial-final mass relation fitted to white dwarfs in open clusters gives

PHYSICS · Subjective · Fermi University Physics · Astrophysics & Cosmology · Stellar structure, energy generation and evolution · Stellar death and compact objects

Stars from the Inside, Ch White dwarfs: the relativistic polytrope, the Chandrasekhar mass and a cooling clock

Problem

An empirical initial-final mass relation fitted to white dwarfs in open clusters gives, for a progenitor of initial (main-sequence) mass MiM_i, the remnant mass MfM⊙≈0.108(MiM⊙)+0.339.\frac{M_f}{M_\odot} \approx 0.108\left(\frac{M_i}{M_\odot}\right) + 0.339. Estimate the white dwarf mass left behind by a 2.0 M⊙2.0\,M_\odot progenitor, and comment on how it relates to the observed peak of the white dwarf mass distribution near 0.6 M⊙0.6\,M_\odot.

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