No Arabic abstract
We present results from a comparative study of light curves of Cepheid and RR Lyrae stars in the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds with their theoretical models generated from the stellar pulsation codes. Fourier decomposition method is used to analyse the theoretical and the observed light curves at multiple wavelengths. In case of RR Lyrae stars, the amplitude and Fourier parameters from the models are consistent with observations in most period bins except for low metal-abundances ($Z<0.004$). In case of Cepheid variables, we observe a greater offset between models and observations for both the amplitude and Fourier parameters. The theoretical amplitude parameters are typically larger than those from observations, except close to the period of $10$ days. We find that these discrepancies between models and observations can be reduced if a higher convective efficiency is adopted in the pulsation codes. Our results suggest that a quantitative comparison of light curve structure is very useful to provide constraints for the input physics to the stellar pulsation models.
We present a detailed light curve analysis of RR Lyrae variables at multiple wavelengths using Fourier decomposition method. The time-series data for RR Lyrae variables in the Galactic bulge and the Magellanic Clouds are taken from the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment survey while the infrared light curves are compiled from the literature. We also analyse the multiband theoretical light curves that are generated from the stellar pulsation models of RR Lyrae stars for a wide range of metal-abundances. We find that the theoretical light curve parameters with different metal abundances are consistent with observed parameters in most period bins at both optical and infrared wavelengths. The theoretical and observed Fourier amplitude parameters decrease with increase in wavelength while the Fourier phase parameters increase with wavelength at a given period. We use absolute magnitudes for a subset of theoretical models that fit the observed optical RR Lyrae light curves in the Large Magellanic Cloud to estimate a distance modulus, $mu_textrm{LMC}=18.51pm0.07$, independent of the metallicity. We also use Fourier analysis to study the period-color and amplitude-color relations for RR Lyrae stars in the Magellanic Clouds using optical data and find that the slope of period-color relation at minimum light is very shallow or flat and becomes increasingly significant at the maximum light for RRab stars. We also find that the metallicity dependence of the period-color relations increases as we go from minimum to maximum light, suggesting that the mean light results are indeed an average of the various pulsational phases. We summarize that the average variation in these relations is consistent between theory and observations and supports the theory of the interaction of the stellar photosphere and the hydrogen ionization front.
We provide homogeneous optical (UBVRI) and near-infrared (JHK) time series photometry for 254 cluster (omega Cen, M4) and field RR Lyrae (RRL) variables. We ended up with more than 551,000 measurements. For 94 fundamental (RRab) and 51 first overtones (RRc) we provide a complete optical/NIR characterization (mean magnitudes, luminosity amplitudes, epoch of the anchor point). The NIR light curves of these variables were adopted to provide new and accurate light-curve templates for both RRc (single period bin) and RRab (three period bins) variables. The templates for the J and the H band are newly introduced, together with the use of the pulsation period to discriminate among the different RRab templates. To overcome subtle uncertainties in the fit of secondary features of the light curves we provide two independent sets of analytical functions (Fourier series, Periodic Gaussian functions). The new templates were validated by using 26 omega Cen and Bulge RRLs covering the four period bins. We found that the difference between the measured mean magnitude along the light curve and the mean magnitude estimated by using the template on a single randomly extracted phase point is better than 0.01 mag (sigma=0.04 mag). We also validated the template on variables for which at least three phase points were available, but without information on the phase of the anchor point. The accuracy of the mean magnitudes is ~0.01 mag (sigma=0.04 mag). The new templates were applied to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) globular Reticulum and by using literature data and predicted PLZ relations we found true distance moduli of 18.47+-0.10+-0.03 mag (J) and 18.49+-0.09+-0.05 mag (K). We also used literature optical and mid-infrared data and we found a mean true distance modulus of 18.47+-0.02+-0.06 mag, suggesting that Reticulum is ~1 kpc closer than the LMC.
The period of pulsation and the structure of the light curve for Cepheid and RR Lyrae variables depend on the fundamental parameters of the star: mass, radius, luminosity, and effective temperature. Here we train artificial neural networks on theoretical pulsation models to predict the fundamental parameters of these stars based on their period and light curve structure. We find significant improvements to estimates of these parameters made using light curve structure and period over estimates made using only the period. Given that the models are able to reproduce most observables, we find that the fundamental parameters of these stars can be estimated up to 60% more accurately when light curve structure is taken into consideration. We quantify which aspects of light curve structure are most important in determining fundamental parameters, and find for example that the second Fourier amplitude component of RR Lyrae light curves is even more important than period in determining the effective temperature of the star. We apply this analysis to observations of hundreds Cepheids in the Large Magellanic Cloud and thousands of RR Lyrae in the Magellanic Clouds and Galactic bulge to produce catalogs of estimated masses, radii, luminosities, and other parameters of these stars. As an example application, we estimate Wesenheit indices and use those to derive distance moduli to the Magellanic Clouds of $mu_{text{LMC},text{CEP}} = 18.688 pm 0.093$, $mu_{text{LMC},text{RRL}} = 18.52 pm 0.14$, and $mu_{text{SMC},text{RRL}} = 18.88 pm 0.17$ mag.
We present results from a detailed analysis of theoretical and observed light curves of classical Cepheid variables in the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds. Theoretical light curves of Cepheid variables are based on non-linear convective hydrodynamical pulsation models and the observational data are taken from the ongoing wide-field variability surveys. The variation in theoretical and observed light curve parameters as a function of period, wavelength and metallicity is used to constrain the input physics to the pulsation models, such as the mass-luminosity relations obeyed by Cepheid variables. We also account for the variation in the convective efficiency as input to the stellar pulsation models and its impact on the theoretical amplitudes and Period-Luminosity relations for Cepheid variables.
We discuss time-series analyses of classical Cepheid and RR Lyrae variables in the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds at multiple wavelengths. We adopt the Fourier decomposition method to quantify the structural changes in the light curves of Cepheid and RR Lyrae variables. A quantitative comparison of Cepheid Fourier parameters suggests that the canonical mass-luminosity models that lie towards the red-edge of the instability strip show a greater offset with respect to observations for short-period Cepheids. RR Lyrae models are consistent with observations in most period bins. We use ensemble light curve analysis to predict the physical parameters of observed Cepheid and RR Lyrae variables using machine learning methods. Our preliminary results suggest that the posterior distributions of mass, luminosity, temperature and radius for Cepheids and RR Lyraes can be well-constrained for a given metal abundance, provided a smoother grid of models is adopted in various input physical parameters.