Some properties of very low temperature, pure helium surface layers of degenerate dwarfs

Models of the atmospheres and envelopes of degenerate dwarfs with pure He surface layers have been constructed using a hot Thomas-Fermi calculation of the opacity and equation of state. The models have log g=8 and T/sub eff/=3000 (250) 6000 K, include the effects of convection even on the atmospheric structure at tau-barvery-much-less-than1, and extend inward to the point where rho=10/sup 3/ g cm/sup -3/. Because of the high transparency, the densities in these atmospheres are so high that even the photospheres of the coolest models are degenerate. The calculations provide a preliminary calibration of the L-T/sub c/ relation for very cool degenerate dwarfs; stars with log gapprox. =8 and T/sub eff/9 or approx. =5000 K are found to have core temperatures more than a factor of 4 below their central Debye temperatures. The models also provide a preliminary survey of the low-temperature, high-density region of the (rho,T) -plane relevant for studies of these stars and indicate a variety of new physical phenomena that may be of importance in future studies of these stars.