On the Maximum Mass of General Relativistic Uniformly Rotating White Dwarfs

The properties of uniformly rotating white dwarfs are analyzed within the framework of general relativity. Hartle's formalism is applied to construct self-consistently the internal and external solutions to the Einstein equations. The mass, the radius, the moment of inertia and quadrupole moment of rotating white dwarfs have been calculated as a function of both the central density and rotation period of the star. The maximum mass of rotating white dwarfs for stable configurations has been obtained.