The Silent Majority: The Interacting Post-Common-Envelope Binaries Underlying Cataclysmic Variables
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | Preprint |
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2025
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| author | Shani, Yarin Meir Hallakoun, Na'ama Ben-Ami, Sagi Shahaf, Sahar Li, Jiadong Rix, Hans-Walter Toonen, Silvia |
| author_facet | Shani, Yarin Meir Hallakoun, Na'ama Ben-Ami, Sagi Shahaf, Sahar Li, Jiadong Rix, Hans-Walter Toonen, Silvia |
| contents | We analyze the orbital period distribution of post-common-envelope white-dwarf-main-sequence (WDMS) binaries by cross-matching the new spectroscopic Gaia DR3 WDMS catalog with TESS light curves, and applying a uniform periodicity search and vetting pipeline. We identify 107 periodic systems, including 74 eclipsing binaries (32 new) and 33 binaries exhibiting only sinusoidal variations. Injection-recovery tests and a forward detectability model yield a completeness-corrected distribution that is well-described by a two-component function: a log-period Gaussian peaking at $P_{\rm orb} \approx 4.1 $ h with $σ\approx 1.8$ h, plus a rising component that begins near $P_{\rm orb}\approx12.9$ h. We refer to this extended component as the long-period tail. It consists exclusively of detached non-interacting post-common-envelope binaries (PCEBs) that likely emerged from the common envelope and have not yet initiated mass transfer. In contrast, the short-period Gaussian is dominated by interacting or near-contact systems (including 22 known cataclysmic variables), consistent with high Roche-lobe filling factors. From the completeness-corrected distribution we infer that $29.8\%\pm4.5\%$ of the spatially unresolved WDMSs in our parent catalog are close PCEBs. Binary population synthesis models with high common-envelope efficiencies overproduce long-period systems and fail to reproduce the sharp peak, whereas lower efficiencies ($αλ\leq 0.3$) match the peak more closely, yet still underpredict the tail. Our results hint at a large, currently under-classified reservoir of pre-cataclysmic variables and weakly accreting binaries, and provide new constraints on common-envelope physics. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_17957 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | The Silent Majority: The Interacting Post-Common-Envelope Binaries Underlying Cataclysmic Variables Shani, Yarin Meir Hallakoun, Na'ama Ben-Ami, Sagi Shahaf, Sahar Li, Jiadong Rix, Hans-Walter Toonen, Silvia Solar and Stellar Astrophysics We analyze the orbital period distribution of post-common-envelope white-dwarf-main-sequence (WDMS) binaries by cross-matching the new spectroscopic Gaia DR3 WDMS catalog with TESS light curves, and applying a uniform periodicity search and vetting pipeline. We identify 107 periodic systems, including 74 eclipsing binaries (32 new) and 33 binaries exhibiting only sinusoidal variations. Injection-recovery tests and a forward detectability model yield a completeness-corrected distribution that is well-described by a two-component function: a log-period Gaussian peaking at $P_{\rm orb} \approx 4.1 $ h with $σ\approx 1.8$ h, plus a rising component that begins near $P_{\rm orb}\approx12.9$ h. We refer to this extended component as the long-period tail. It consists exclusively of detached non-interacting post-common-envelope binaries (PCEBs) that likely emerged from the common envelope and have not yet initiated mass transfer. In contrast, the short-period Gaussian is dominated by interacting or near-contact systems (including 22 known cataclysmic variables), consistent with high Roche-lobe filling factors. From the completeness-corrected distribution we infer that $29.8\%\pm4.5\%$ of the spatially unresolved WDMSs in our parent catalog are close PCEBs. Binary population synthesis models with high common-envelope efficiencies overproduce long-period systems and fail to reproduce the sharp peak, whereas lower efficiencies ($αλ\leq 0.3$) match the peak more closely, yet still underpredict the tail. Our results hint at a large, currently under-classified reservoir of pre-cataclysmic variables and weakly accreting binaries, and provide new constraints on common-envelope physics. |
| title | The Silent Majority: The Interacting Post-Common-Envelope Binaries Underlying Cataclysmic Variables |
| topic | Solar and Stellar Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.17957 |