White dwarf stars are the final evolutionary stage of more than 97% of all  stars. These stellar remnants are the cores of low-  and intermediate-mass  stars which have lost most of (or all) their H-rich envelopes due to stellar  winds or binary interactions.  For this reason, the present population of  white dwarfs contains valuable information about the evolution of  individual  stars from birth to death and about the star formation rate throughout the  history of our Galaxy. White dwarf  stars are the final evolutionary stage of more than 97% of all  stars. These stellar remnants are the cores of low- and  intermediate-mass  stars which have lost most of (or all) their H-rich envelopes due to stellar  winds or binary interactions.   For this reason, the present population of  white dwarfs contains valuable information about the evolution of individual stars from birth to death and about the star formation rate throughout the  history of our Galaxy.
In the course of their evolution, white dwarfs cross several pulsational instability phases. The pulsational pattern of variable  white dwarfs carries information about the masses and the internal chemical stratifications of individual stars. The  asteroseismological study of such pulsational patterns has become a powerful tool for probing their inner regions that  would otherwise remain inaccessible to direct observation. In addition the drift of the pulsation periods throws light on the cooling speeds of individual stars, allowing to test the existence of physics beyond the standard model of particle  interactions.

During my talk I'll review the work that has been done in our group at La Plata's Observatory in the evolution and  asteroseismology of white dwarfs.  In addition I'll discuss some applications of white dwarfs to the understanding of other fields of stellar and particle physics.