Title: Polluted white dwarf stars offer a unique way to study the bulk compositions of exoplanetary material. At the same time, their stellar and planetary companions tell us about the dynamical evolution that shapes post-main sequence exoplanets. In this talk I will share two examples of compositional and dynamical insights gained from surveys of polluted white dwarfs. First, I will discuss trends in water abundances, inferred from measurements of excess O in these systems, and their implications for testing the prevalence of water-rich material across exoplanet systems. Second, I will focus on one potential avenue for the accretion of water-rich material: perturbations from a stellar companion to the white dwarf. Using binary stellar systems from Gaia, I will discuss how common this mechanism might be and how it impacts overall differences between pollution on single versus binary white dwarfs.

Hosted By Professor Elisabeth Newton 

Zoom Meeting Link: https://dartmouth.zoom.us/j/93069806358