The pulsations of ZZ Ceti stars - III. The driving mechanism

Abstract

The outer layers of the variable white dwarfs are in a state of partial ionization. During the pulsation cycle the base of the ionization zone is strongly heated by the radiative layers below, in phase with the pressure perturbation. If this excess heat is not quickly lost at the surface, then the driving effect is strong. The surface flux perturbation tends to be small and delayed in phase because the surface flux is remarkably insensitive to temperature changes in the deeper layers of the ionization zone. This insensitivity is closely associated with the well known inward divergence of the solutions for the equilibrium thermal structure in the convective layers. The mechanism which excites the oscillations could be called ‘convective driving’.