Large-scale Ordered Magnetic Fields Generated in Mergers of Helium White Dwarfs

Stellar mergers are one important path to highly magnetised stars. Mergers of two low-mass white dwarfs may create up to every third hot subdwarf star. The merging process is usually assumed to dramatically amplify magnetic fields. However, so far only four highly magnetised hot subdwarf stars have been found, suggesting a fraction of less than 1%. We present two high-resolution magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) simulations of the merger of two helium white dwarfs in a binary system with the same total mass of 0.6 M_⊙. We analyse one equal-mass merger with two 0.3 M_⊙ white dwarfs, and one unequal-mass merger with a 0.25 M_⊙ white dwarf and a 0.35 M_⊙ white dwarf. We simulate the inspiral, merger, and further evolution of the merger remnant for about 50 rotations. We find efficient magnetic field amplification in both mergers via a small-scale dynamo, reproducing previous results of stellar merger simulations. The magnetic field saturates at similar strength for both simulations. We then identify a second phase of magnetic field amplification in both merger remnants that happens on a timescale of several tens of rotational periods of the merger remnant. This phase generates a large-scale ordered azimuthal field. We identify it as a large-scale dynamo driven by the magneto-rotational instability (MRI). Finally, we suggest that in the unequal-mass merger remnant, helium burning will eventually start in a shell around a cold core. The convection zone this generates will coincide with the region that contains most of the magnetic energy, probably erasing the strong, ordered field. The equal-mass merger remnant instead will probably ignite burning in the center, retaining its ordered field. Therefore, the mass ratio of the initial merger could be the selecting factor that decides if a merger remnant will stay highly magnetised long after the merger.