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T. S. Metcalfe (University of Texas-Austin)
For many years, astronomers have promised that the study of pulsating white dwarfs would ultimately lead to useful information about the physics of matter under extreme conditions of temperature and pressure. We can now finally make good on that promise. Using observational data from the Whole Earth Telescope and a new analytical method employing a genetic algorithm, we demonstrate that the pulsation modes of the helium-atmosphere variable white dwarf GD 358 probe down to the inner few percent of the star. We empirically determine the central carbon/oxygen ratio and use it to place constraints on the 12C(\alpha,\gamma)16O nuclear reaction cross-section.