Can magnetic fields suppress convection in the atmosphere of cool white dwarfs? A case study on WD2105-820

Understand

Around 10% of white dwarfs exhibit global magnetic structures with fields ranging from 1 kG to hundreds of MG.

• Recently, the first radiation magnetohydrodynamics simulations of the atmosphere of white dwarfs showed that convection should be suppressed in their photospheres for magnetic fields with strengths B $\gtrsim$ 50 kG.
• These predictions are in agreement with our knowledge of stellar physics (e.g.
• energy transfer in strong magnetic field regions of the solar photosphere), but have yet to be directly confirmed from white dwarf observations.