Populations of evolved massive binary stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud I: Predictions from detailed evolution models

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Hauptverfasser: Xu, X. -T., Schürmann, C., Langer, N., Wang, C., Schootemeijer, A., Shenar, T., Ercolino, A., Haberl, F., Hastings, B., Jin, H., Kramer, M., Lennon, D., Marchant, P., Sen, K., Tauris, T. M., de Mink, S. E.
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Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Xu, X. -T.
Schürmann, C.
Langer, N.
Wang, C.
Schootemeijer, A.
Shenar, T.
Ercolino, A.
Haberl, F.
Hastings, B.
Jin, H.
Kramer, M.
Lennon, D.
Marchant, P.
Sen, K.
Tauris, T. M.
de Mink, S. E.
author_facet Xu, X. -T.
Schürmann, C.
Langer, N.
Wang, C.
Schootemeijer, A.
Shenar, T.
Ercolino, A.
Haberl, F.
Hastings, B.
Jin, H.
Kramer, M.
Lennon, D.
Marchant, P.
Sen, K.
Tauris, T. M.
de Mink, S. E.
contents Context. The majority of massive stars are born with a close binary companion. How this affects their evolution and fate is still largely uncertain, especially at low metallicity. Aims. We derive synthetic populations of massive post-interaction binary products and compare them with corresponding observed populations in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Methods. We analyse 53298 detailed binary evolutionary models computed with MESA. Our models include the physics of rotation, mass and angular momentum transfer, magnetic internal angular momentum transport, and tidal spin-orbit coupling. They cover initial primary masses of 5-100Msun, initial mass ratios of 0.3-0.95, and all initial periods for which interaction is expected. They are evolved through the first mass transfer and the donor star death, a possible ensuing Be/X-ray binary phase, and they end when the mass gainer leaves the main sequence. Results.In our fiducial synthetic population, 8% of the OB stars in the SMC are post-mass transfer systems, and 7% are merger products. In many of our models, the mass gainers are spun up and form Oe/Be stars. While our model underpredicts the number of Be/X-ray binaries in the SMC, it reproduces the main features of their orbital period distribution and the observed number of SMC binary WR stars. We expect $\sim$50 OB+BH binaries below and $\sim$170 above 20d orbital period. The latter might produce merging double BHs. However, their progenitors, the predicted long-period WR+OB binaries, are not observed. Conclusions. While the comparison with the observed SMC stars supports many physics assumptions in our high-mass binary models, a better match of the large number of observed OBe stars and Be/X-ray binaries likely requires a lower merger rate and/or a higher mass transfer efficiency during the first mass transfer. The fate of the initially wide O star binaries remains uncertain.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_23876
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Populations of evolved massive binary stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud I: Predictions from detailed evolution models
Xu, X. -T.
Schürmann, C.
Langer, N.
Wang, C.
Schootemeijer, A.
Shenar, T.
Ercolino, A.
Haberl, F.
Hastings, B.
Jin, H.
Kramer, M.
Lennon, D.
Marchant, P.
Sen, K.
Tauris, T. M.
de Mink, S. E.
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Context. The majority of massive stars are born with a close binary companion. How this affects their evolution and fate is still largely uncertain, especially at low metallicity. Aims. We derive synthetic populations of massive post-interaction binary products and compare them with corresponding observed populations in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Methods. We analyse 53298 detailed binary evolutionary models computed with MESA. Our models include the physics of rotation, mass and angular momentum transfer, magnetic internal angular momentum transport, and tidal spin-orbit coupling. They cover initial primary masses of 5-100Msun, initial mass ratios of 0.3-0.95, and all initial periods for which interaction is expected. They are evolved through the first mass transfer and the donor star death, a possible ensuing Be/X-ray binary phase, and they end when the mass gainer leaves the main sequence. Results.In our fiducial synthetic population, 8% of the OB stars in the SMC are post-mass transfer systems, and 7% are merger products. In many of our models, the mass gainers are spun up and form Oe/Be stars. While our model underpredicts the number of Be/X-ray binaries in the SMC, it reproduces the main features of their orbital period distribution and the observed number of SMC binary WR stars. We expect $\sim$50 OB+BH binaries below and $\sim$170 above 20d orbital period. The latter might produce merging double BHs. However, their progenitors, the predicted long-period WR+OB binaries, are not observed. Conclusions. While the comparison with the observed SMC stars supports many physics assumptions in our high-mass binary models, a better match of the large number of observed OBe stars and Be/X-ray binaries likely requires a lower merger rate and/or a higher mass transfer efficiency during the first mass transfer. The fate of the initially wide O star binaries remains uncertain.
title Populations of evolved massive binary stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud I: Predictions from detailed evolution models
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.23876