Reconstructing the evolution of white dwarf binaries: further evidence for an alternative algorithm for the outcome of the common-envelope phase in close binaries

By G. Nelemans, C. Tout. 2004

183 citations recorded by the source corpus.

We determine the possible masses and radii of the progenitors of white dwarfs in binaries from fits to detailed stellar evolution models and use these to reconstruct the mass-transfer phase in which the white dwarf was formed. We confirm the earlier finding that in the first phase of mass transfer in the binary evolution leading to a close pair of white dwarfs, the standard common-envelope formalism (the alpha-formalism) equating the energy balance in the system (implicitly assuming angular momentum conservation) does not work. An algorithm equating the angular momentum balance (implicitly assuming energy conservation) can explain the observations. This conclusion is now based on 10 observed systems rather than three. With the latter algorithm (the gamma-algorithm) the separation does not change much for approximately equal-mass binaries. Assuming constant efficiency in the standard alpha-formalism and a constant value of gamma, we investigate the effect of both methods on the change in separation in general and conclude that when there is observational evidence for strong shrinkage of the orbit, the gamma-algorithm also leads to this. We then extend our analysis to all close binaries with at least one white dwarf component and reconstruct the mass-transfer phases that lead to these binaries. In this way we find all possible values of the efficiency of the standard alpha-formalism and of gamma that can explain the observed binaries for different progenitor and companion masses. We find that all observations can be explained with a single value of gamma, making the gamma-algorithm a useful tool to predict the outcome of common-envelope evolution. We discuss the consequences of our findings for different binary populations in the Galaxy, including massive binaries, for which the reconstruction method cannot be used.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation, Statistical and Nonlinear Physics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/5cf8f6c6005dea4a4e38c310f6a663d87873ab57

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Citations in the corpus

SDSS unveils a population of intrinsically faint cataclysmic variables at the minimum orbital period (2009, background): “Journal compilation C© 2009 RAS common envelope phase, when the more massive of the two stars evolves into a red giant and engulfs the other one (e.g. Nelemans & Tout 2005), and in the subsequent orbital angular momentum losses such as magnetic stellar wind braking (Verbunt & Zwaan 1981; Kalogera,…”
Compact Object Modeling with the StarTrack Population Synthesis Code (2005, methodology): “…prescription for CE evolution based on comparing the binding and orbital energies (see above), we investigate the alternative approach proposed by Nelemans & Tout (2005), based on the nonconservative mass transfer analysis by Paczynski & Ziolkowski (1967), with the assumption that the mass loss…”
Common envelope evolution: where we stand and how we can move forward (2012, methodology): “The γ -formalism was developed in order to explain some particular DWD systems (Nelemans et al. 2000; Nelemans and Tout 2005).”
Prospects for detection of detached double white dwarf binaries with Gaia, LSST and LISA (2017, methodology): “Despite the γα CE prescription being designed to match the observed DWD binaries (Nelemans et al. 2000; Nelemans & Tout 2005), the number of currently known sources is too low to prefer it with respect to the αα CE model.”
Formation and evolution of compact binaries in globular clusters – II. Binaries with neutron stars (2007, unknown): “Alternatively, post-CE systems could be described by the angul r momentum loss prescription proposed in Nelemans & Tout (2005).”
RATES AND DELAY TIMES OF TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE (2009, unknown): “Some comparison between different prescriptions for CE evolution have been tested against observations for local double white dwarfs (Nelemans & Tout 2005).”
THE SUPERNOVA DELAY TIME DISTRIBUTION IN GALAXY CLUSTERS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR TYPE-Ia PROGENITORS AND METAL ENRICHMENT (2010, methodology): “An additional DD model is calculated with β = 1, but treating the common-envelope phase, instead of with the α model, by using the γ parametrization of Nelemans & Tout (2005), with γ = 1.5.”
AN AMR STUDY OF THE COMMON-ENVELOPE PHASE OF BINARY EVOLUTION (2011, background): “Alternatively, a prescription based on angular momentum considerations has been proposed (Nelemans et al. 2000; Nelemans & Tout 2005), where the specific angular momentum of the ejected matter is taken as a parameter.”
Type-Ia Supernova Rates and the Progenitor Problem: A Review (2011, background): “Some of it is due to the fact that, even within a given sub-channel, different workers treat the same evolutionary phases using different approximations (e.g. the common-envelope phase phase, via the Webbink (1984) α formalism, or the Nelemans & Tout (2005) γ parameter).”
The rates of type Ia supernovae - I. Analytical formulations (2005, methodology): “I restrict to systems with 2≤ m1,m2 ≤ 8, from which most double CO WDs form, as argued in Sect.”
On the Rarity of Double Black Hole Binaries: Consequences for Gravitational Wave Detection (2006, methodology): “We have applied an alternative prescription for the CE treatment involving explicit angular momentum conservation with implicit energy conservation (see Nelemans & Tout 2005).”
Doing Science with eLISA: Astrophysics and Cosmology in the Millihertz Regime (2012, background): “m ﬁrst physical principles is slow (e.g. Taam and Ricker, 2010, Taam and Sandquist, 2000) and the standard formalism described above has been challenged by observational tests (De Marco et al., 2011, Nelemans and Tout, 2005). Comparison of the parameters of the thousands of binaries detected by eLIS”