Constraining the evolution of cataclysmic variables via the masses and accretion rates of their underlying white dwarfs
| Autor: | S. Kafka, Tom Marsh, Arto Oksanen, Diogo Belloni, Daisaku Nogami, M. J. Cook, Peter Nelson, Roger D. Pickard, Dean M. Townsley, Edward M. Sion, Elmé Breedt, Christian Knigge, Daniel E. Reichart, Rod Stubbings, Matthias R. Schreiber, Vladimir Kouprianov, Boris T. Gänsicke, Patrick Godon, Paula Szkody, Odette Toloza, Berto Monard, Jeremy Shears, D. de Martino, Lars Bildsten, Gary Poyner, Steven G. Parsons, D. Rodriguez Perez, David Boyd, Knox S. Long, A. F. Pala, Gordon Myers |
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| Přispěvatelé: | GBR |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Physics
education.field_of_study Angular momentum Accretion (meteorology) Mass distribution Population FOS: Physical sciences Cataclysmic variable star White dwarf Astronomy and Astrophysics Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics Astrophysics Orbital period Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Space and Planetary Science Astrophysics::Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics education Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics Gravitational redshift |
| Zdroj: | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 510:6110-6132 |
| ISSN: | 1365-2966 0035-8711 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/mnras/stab3449 |
| Popis: | We report on the masses ($M_\mathrm{WD}$), effective temperatures ($T_\mathrm{eff}$) and secular mean accretion rates ($\langle \dot{M} \rangle$) of 43 cataclysmic variable (CV) white dwarfs, 42 of which were obtained from the combined analysis of their $\mathit{Hubble~Space~Telescope}$ ultraviolet data with the parallaxes provided by the Early Third Data Release of the $\mathit{Gaia}$ space mission, and one from the white dwarf gravitational redshift. Our results double the number of CV white dwarfs with an accurate mass measurement, bringing the total census to 89 systems. From the study of the mass distribution, we derive $\langle M_\mathrm{WD} \rangle = 0.81^{+0.16}_{-0.20}\,\mathrm{M_\odot}$, in perfect agreement with previous results, and find no evidence of any evolution of the mass with orbital period. Moreover, we identify five systems with $M_\mathrm{WD} < 0.5\mathrm{M_\odot}$, which are most likely representative of helium-core white dwarfs, showing that these CVs are present in the overall population. We reveal the presence of an anti-correlation between the average accretion rates and the white dwarf masses for the systems below the $2-3\,$h period gap. Since $\langle \dot{M} \rangle$ reflects the rate of system angular momentum loss, this correlation suggests the presence of an additional mechanism of angular momentum loss that is more efficient at low white dwarf masses. This is the fundamental concept of the recently proposed empirical prescription of consequential angular momentum loss (eCAML) and our results provide observational support for it, although we also highlight how its current recipe needs to be refined to better reproduce the observed scatter in $T_\mathrm{eff}$ and $\langle \dot{M} \rangle$, and the presence of helium-core white dwarfs. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 22 pages of main body (6 tables and 14 figures) and 54 pages of appendices. Appendix B includes the best-fitting parameters and models to the HST data |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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