Evolution of double oxygen–neon white dwarf merger remnant

Abstract

ABSTRACT Double white dwarf (WD) merger process and their post-merger evolution are important in many fields of astronomy, such as supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, gravitational waves, and so on. The evolutionary outcomes of double ultra-massive WD merger remnants are still a subject of debate, though the general consensus is that the merger remnant will collapse to form a neutron star (NS). In this work, we investigate the evolution of a $2.20\, {\rm M}_{\odot }$ merger remnant stemmed from the coalescence of double $1.10\, {\rm M}_{\odot }$ ONe WDs. We find that the remnant ignites off-centre neon burning at the position near the surface of primary WD soon after the merger, resulting in the stable inwardly propagating oxygen/neon (O/Ne) flame. The final outcomes of the merger remnant are sensitive to the effect of convective boundary mixing. If the mixing cannot stall the O/Ne flame, the flame will reach the centre within 20 yr, leading to the formation of super Chandrasekhar mass silicon core, and its final fate probably be NS through iron-core-collapse supernova. In contrast, if the convective mixing is effective enough to prevent the O/Ne flame from reaching the centre, the merger remnant will undergo electron capture supernova to form an ONeFe WD. Meanwhile, we find that the wind mass loss process may hardly alter the final fate of the remnant due to its fast evolution. Our results imply that the coalescence of double ONe WDs can form short lived giant like object, but the final outcomes (NS or ONeFe WD) are influenced by the uncertain convective mixing in O/Ne flame.