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Register a new userThe population of white dwarf binaries with hot subdwarf companions
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Hot subdwarfs (sdBs) are core helium-burning stars, which lost almost their entire hydrogen envelope in the red-giant phase. Since a high fraction of those stars are in close binary systems, common envelope ejection is an important formation channel. We identified a total population of 51 close sdB+WD binaries based on time-resolved spectroscopy and multi-band photometry, derive the WD mass distribution and constrain the future evolution of these systems. Most WDs in those binaries have masses significantly below the average mass of single WDs and a high fraction of them might therefore have helium cores. We found 12 systems that will merge in less than a Hubble time and evolve to become either massive C/O WDs, AM,CVn systems, RCrB stars or even explode as supernovae type Ia.
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We report the discovery of an extremely close, eclipsing binary system. A white dwarf is orbited by a core He-burning compact hot subdwarf star with a period as short as $simeq0.04987 {rm d}$ making this system the most compact hot subdwarf binary discovered so far. The subdwarf will start to transfer helium-rich material on short timescales of less than $50 {rm Myr}$. The ignition of He-burning at the surface may trigger carbon-burning in the core although the WD is less massive than the Chandrasekhar limit ($>0.74,M_{rm odot}$) making this binary a possible progenitor candidate for a supernova type Ia event.
Neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes are the remnants of massive stars, which ended their lives in supernova explosions. These exotic objects can only be studied in relatively rare cases. If they are interacting with close companions they become bright X-ray sources. If they are neutron stars, they may be detected as pulsars. Only a few hundred such systems are presently known in the Galaxy. However, there should be many more binaries with basically invisible compact objects in non-interacting binaries. Here we report the discovery of unseen compact companions to hot subdwarfs in close binary systems. Hot subdwarfs are evolved helium-core-burning stars that have lost most of their hydrogen envelopes, often due to binary interactions. Using high-resolution spectra and assuming tidal synchronisation of the subdwarfs, we were able to constrain the companion masses of 32 binaries. While most hot subdwarf binaries have white-dwarf or late-type main sequence companions, as predicted by binary evolution models, at least 5% of the observed subdwarfs must have very massive companions: unusually heavy white dwarfs, neutron stars and, in some cases, even black holes. We present evolutionary models which show that such binaries can indeed form if the system has evolved through two common-envelope phases. This new connection between hot subdwarfs, which are numerous in the Galaxy, and massive compact objects may lead to a tremendous increase in the number of known neutron stars and black holes and shed some light on this dark population and its evolutionary link to the X-ray binary population.
The spectroscopic catalogue of white dwarf-main sequence (WDMS) binaries from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is the largest and most homogeneous sample of compact binary stars currently known. However, because of selection effects, the current sample is strongly biased against systems containing cool white dwarfs and/or early type companions, which are predicted to dominate the intrinsic population. In this study we present colour selection criteria that combines optical (ugriz DR8 SDSS) plus infrared (yjhk DR9 UKIRT Infrared Sky Survey (UKIDSS), JHK Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) and/or w1w2 Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)) magnitudes to select 3419 photometric candidates of harbouring cool white dwarfs and/or dominant (M dwarf) companions. We demonstrate that 84 per cent of our selected candidates are very likely genuine WDMS binaries, and that the white dwarf effective temperatures and secondary star spectral types of 71 per cent of our selected sources are expected to be below <~10000-15000K, and concentrated at ~M2-3, respectively. We also present an updated version of the spectroscopic SDSS WDMS binary catalogue, which incorporates 47 new systems from SDSS DR8. The bulk of the DR8 spectroscopy is made up of main-sequence stars and red giants that were targeted as part of the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE) Survey, therefore the number of new spectroscopic WDMS binaries in DR8 is very small compared to previous SDSS data releases. Despite their low number, DR8 WDMS binaries are found to be dominated by systems containing cool white dwarfs and therefore represent an important addition to the spectroscopic sample. The updated SDSS DR8 spectroscopic catalogue of WDMS binaries consists of 2316 systems.
We give a brief review over the observational evidence for close substellar companions to hot subdwarf stars. The formation of these core helium-burning objects requires huge mass loss of their red giant progenitors. It has been suggested that besides stellar companions substellar objects in close orbits may be able to trigger this mass loss. Such objects can be easily detected around hot subdwarf stars by medium or high resolution spectroscopy with an RV accuracy at the km/s-level. Eclipsing systems of HW Vir type stick out of transit surveys because of their characteristic light curves. The best evidence that substellar objects in close orbits around sdBs exist and that they are able to trigger the required mass loss is provided by the eclipsing system SDSS J0820+0008, which was found in the course of the MUCHFUSS project. Furthermore, several candidate systems have been discovered.
Supernova Ia are bright explosive events that can be used to estimate cosmological distances, allowing us to study the expansion of the Universe. They are understood to result from a thermonuclear detonation in a white dwarf that formed from the exhausted core of a star more massive than the Sun. However, the possible progenitor channels leading to an explosion are a long-standing debate, limiting the precision and accuracy of supernova Ia as distance indicators. Here we present HD265435, a binary system with an orbital period of less than a hundred minutes, consisting of a white dwarf and a hot subdwarf -- a stripped core-helium burning star. The total mass of the system is 1.65+/-0.25 solar-masses, exceeding the Chandrasekhar limit (the maximum mass of a stable white dwarf). The system will merge due to gravitational wave emission in 70 million years, likely triggering a supernova Ia event. We use this detection to place constraints on the contribution of hot subdwarf-white dwarf binaries to supernova Ia progenitors.
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