Producing planetary debris exterior to white dwarf Roche radii through sublimative rotational fission

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ID: 314791
2026
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Abstract
Abstract The majority of white dwarfs that host periodic transiting planetary debris do so at distances that exceed the rubble-pile Roche limit, in disagreement with canonical formation models that focus on the tidal disruption of minor planets. Here, we quantify the conditions by which rotational fission due to sublimative outgassing (“SYORP” break-up) can occur outside of the Roche sphere in the distance range of 1-5 Roche radii. We use the Many Materials Orbital Sublimation (MaMOS) model to quantify the outgassing properties of three representative types of planetary materials: cores (iron), mantles (forsterite olivine) and comets (water ice), and characterise the resulting spin-up rate analytically by adopting SYORP coefficients in the range of 10−5 − 10−3. We then compare this rate to that generated by the radiative YORP effect with YORP coefficients of 10−3 − 10−2, and focus on planetesimals with radii of 0.1, 1.0, and 10 km. We find that for white dwarf cooling ages of up to ~1 Gyr, sublimative fission of planetesimals and fragments ≲ 0.1 km in size due to water ice outgassing occur on observable timescales (within 10 yr), regardless if the spin-up is monotonic or stochastic. Further, these timescales are orders of magnitude shorter than the corresponding YORP fission timescales. For drier planetesimals, both iron and forsterite outgassing can be effective at 10-100 Myr cooling ages. Our results do not substantially differ for strengthless rubble piles versus objects with 1 kPa of internal strength. These findings add to growing evidence that gravitationally scattered comets and asteroids do not need to adopt pericentres within a white dwarf’s Roche radius to eventually enrich, or pollute, the star with metals.
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openalex_W7162185557 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Dimitri Veras, Jordan K. Steckloff, Kathryn Volk
Journal monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stag978
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag978
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