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Detached cataclysmic variables are crossing the orbital period gap

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Zorotovic, M., Schreiber, M. R., Parsons, S. G., Gänsicke, B. T. (Boris T.), Hardy, A., Agurto-Gangas, C., Nebot Gómez-Morán, A., Rebassa-Mansergas, A. and Schwope, A. D. (2016) Detached cataclysmic variables are crossing the orbital period gap. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 457 (4). pp. 3867-3877. doi:10.1093/mnras/stw246 ISSN 0035-8711.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw246

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Abstract

A central hypothesis in the theory of cataclysmic variable (CV) evolution is the need to explain the observed lack of accreting systems in the ≃2–3 h orbital period range, known as the period gap. The standard model, disrupted magnetic braking (DMB), reproduces the gap by postulating that CVs transform into inconspicuous detached white dwarf (WD) plus main sequence systems, which no longer resemble CVs. However, observational evidence for this standard model is currently indirect and thus this scenario has attracted some criticism throughout the last decades. Here, we perform a simple but exceptionally strong test of the existence of detached CVs (dCVs). If the theory is correct, dCVs should produce a peak in the orbital period distribution of detached close binaries consisting of a WD and an M4–M6 secondary star. We measured six new periods which brings the sample of such binaries with known periods below 10 h to 52 systems. An increase of systems in the ≃2–3 h orbital period range is observed. Comparing this result with binary population models, we find that the observed peak cannot be reproduced by post-common envelope binaries (PCEBs) alone and that the existence of dCVs is needed to reproduce the observations. Also, the WD mass distribution in the gap shows evidence of two populations in this period range, i.e. PCEBs and more massive dCVs, which is not observed at longer periods. We therefore conclude that CVs are indeed crossing the gap as detached systems, which provides strong support for the DMB theory.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: Q Science > QB Astronomy
Q Science > QC Physics
Divisions: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Physics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Double stars, Cataclysmic variable stars, Mass loss (Astrophysics), Stars -- Evolution, Stars, New, Astrophysics
Journal or Publication Title: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISSN: 0035-8711
Official Date: 21 April 2016
Dates:
DateEvent
21 April 2016Published
27 January 2016Accepted
26 January 2016Submitted
Volume: 457
Number: 4
Page Range: pp. 3867-3877
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stw246
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
Date of first compliant deposit: 14 March 2017
Date of first compliant Open Access: 14 March 2017
Funder: Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (Chile) (FONDECYT), Seventh Framework Programme (European Commission) (FP7), European Research Council (ERC), Spain. Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad [Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness] (MINECO), L'Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR)
Grant number: 3130559 (FONDECYT), 1141269 (FONDECYT), 3140585 (FONDECYT), FP/2007-2013 (FP7), 320964 (ERC), AYA2014-59084-P (MINECO)

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