Dengkai Jiang

The evolutionary status of W Ursae Majoris‐type systems

Well-determined physical parameters of 130 W Ursae Majoris (W UMa) systems were collected from the literature. Based on these data, the evolutionary status and dynamical evolution of W UMa systems are investigated. It is found that there is no evolutionary difference between W- and A-type systems in the M-J diagram, which is consistent with the results derived from the analysis of observed spectral type and of M-R and M-L diagrams of W UMa systems. M-R and M-L diagrams of W- and A-type systems indicate that a large amount of energy should be transferred from the more massive to the less massive component, so that they are not in thermal equilibrium and undergo thermal relaxation oscillation. Moreover, the distribution of angular momentum, together with the distribution of the mass ratio, suggests that the mass ratio of the observed W UMa systems decreases with decreasing total mass. This could be the result of the dynamical evolution of W UMa systems, which suffer angular momentum loss and mass loss as a result of the magnetic stellar wind. Consequently, the tidal instability forces these systems towards lower q values and finally to rapidly rotating single stars.

The short-period limit of contact binaries

The stability of mass transfer is important in the formation of contact binaries from detached binaries when the primaries of the initially detached binaries fill their Roche lobes. Using Eggletons stellar evolution code, we investigate the formation and the short-period limit of contact binaries by considering the effect of the instability of mass transfer. It is found that with decreasing initial primary mass from 0.89 to 0.63 M?, the range of the initial mass ratio decreases for detached binaries that experience stable mass transfer and evolve into contact. If the initial primary mass is less than 0.63 M?, detached binaries would experience dynamically unstable mass transfer when the primaries of detached binaries fill their Roche lobes. These systems would evolve into a common envelope situation and probably then to a complete merger of two components on a quite short time-scale. This results in a low mass limit at about 0.63 M? for the primary mass of contact binaries, which might be the main reason why the period distribution of contact binaries has a short limit of about 0.22 d. By comparing the theoretical period distribution of contact binaries with the observational data, it is found that the observed contact binaries are above the low mass limit for the primary mass of contact binaries and no observed contact binaries are below this limit. This suggests that the short-period limit of contact binaries can be explained by the instability of the mass transfer that occurs when the primaries of the initially detached binaries fill their Roche lobes.

Formation and Evolution of W Ursae Majoris Contact Binaries

The origin and evolution of WUMa systems are discussed based on All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS) data and the mean kinematic ages of four subgroups of 97 field contact binaries (FCBs). The period distribution of eclipsing binaries discovered by ASAS suggests that a period limit to tidal locking for the close binaries is about 2.24 days, so that most W UMa systems might be formed from detached binaries with periods PP2.24 days, and a maximum advanced time from a detached system to a W UMa is about 3.23 Gyr. Moreover, the secular evolution of the angular momentum (AM), the system mass, and the orbital period of 97 FCBs were investigated according to the mean kinematic ages, which were set according to AM bins. AMs, systemic masses, and orbital periods were shown to be decreasing with kinematic age. Their first-order decreasing rates have been determined as. J /J = 1.86; 10(-10) 10 yr(-1), M/M = 0.95; 10-10 yr(-1), and. P/P = 1.24; 10(-10) 10 yr(-1), and the average amplification (A A = d ln J /d ln M) is derived to be 1.96. These are lower than those derived from detached chromospherically active binaries (CABs). This suggests that the magnetic activity level of FCBs is indeed weaker than that of CABs. Meanwhile, the decreasing rate of AM of FCBs is found to be equal to an average value in a cycle of a cyclic model of contact binaries. This might suggest that the evolution of FCBs undergoes thermal relaxation oscillation (TRO) and that the coalescence of W UMa systems is a very long process, which is also indicated by the dynamical evolution of FCBs.

BINARY INTERACTIONS AS A POSSIBLE SCENARIO FOR THE FORMATION OF MULTIPLE STELLAR POPULATIONS IN GLOBULAR CLUSTERS

Observations have revealed the presence of multiple stellar populations in globular clusters (GCs) that exhibit wide abundance variations and multiple sequences in the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram. We present a scenario for the formation of multiple stellar populations in GCs. In this scenario, initial GCs are single-generation clusters, and our model predicts that the stars with anomalous abundances observed in GCs are merged stars and accretor stars produced by binary interactions—rapidly rotating stars at the moment of their formation—and that these stars are more massive than normal single stars in the same evolutionary stage. We find that, due to their own evolution, these rapidly rotating stars have surface abundances, effective temperatures, and luminosities that are different from normal single stars in the same evolutionary stage. This stellar population of binaries reproduces two important points of observational evidence of multiple stellar populations: a Na-O anticorrelation and multiple sequences in the HR diagram. This evidence suggests that binary interactions may be a possible scenario for the formation of multiple stellar populations in GCs.

Energy transfer and its effects on the secondaries in W Ursae Majoris type contact binaries

Based on the physical parameters of 133 W Ursae Majoris (W UMa) type contact binaries, energy transfer and its effects on the secondaries in W UMa contact binaries are investigated. Relations are given between the mass ratio (q) for W UMa contact binaries and the relative energy transfer rates, i.e. U(1), the ratio of the transferred luminosity to the surface luminosity of the primary, and U(2), the ratio of the transferred luminosity to the nuclear luminosity of the secondary. The theoretical curves(U(1) versus q and U(2) versus q) are derived based on various assumptions: that the two components in each W UMa system are nearly identical in effective temperature and just fill their inner Roche lobes, and the primaries are zero-age main-sequence stars. Although these curves can reflect the distribution of U(1) and U(2) versus q, some observational systems deviate significantly from these curves. This results mainly from the difference in effective temperatures of the components of W UMa systems. The radius and the density of the secondary are related to the relative energy transfer rate U(2): the higher U(2), the greater the expansion and the lower the density of the secondary in a W UMa system. In addition, it is found that the temperature difference of W UMa binary components is correlated with the relative energy transfer rate U(1) and decreases with increasing U(1). This might suggest that there is a thermal coupling between the two components in W UMa contact binaries, and that the classification of W UMa contact binaries into A or W types depends on the energy transfer from the primary to the secondary. The temperature difference of W UMa binary components is poorly correlated with the mass of the primary. This suggests that the properties of the common envelope of a W UMa contact binary might not have a significant effect on the energy transfer between the two components.

The binary merger channel for the progenitor of the fastest rotating O-type star VFTS 102

VFTS 102 has a projected rotational velocity (>500 km s(-1)) and would appear to be the fastest rotating O-type star. We show that its high rotational velocity could be understood within the framework of the binary merger. In the binary merger channel, the progenitor binary of VFTS 102 would evolve into contact while two components are still on the main sequence, and then merge into a rapidly rotating single star. Employing Eggletons stellar evolution code, we performed binary stellar evolution calculations and mapped out the initial parameters of the progenitor of VFTS 102 in the orbital period-mass ratio (P-q) plane. We found that the progenitor binary of VFTS 102 with initial mass ratio q(0) less than or similar to 0.7 should have an initial orbital period shorter than 3.76-4.25 d, while above this mass ratio it should have an initial orbital period shorter than 1.44-1.55 d. The progenitor of VFTS 102 would evolve into contact during the rapid mass transfer phase or during the subsequent slow mass transfer phase, and might ultimately merge into a rapidly rotating massive star. In addition, we performed Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the binary merger channel. We estimated the fraction of binaries that would merge into single stars and the fraction of single stars that might be produced from the binary merger channel. It is found that about 8.7 per cent of binaries would evolve into contact and merge into rapidly rotating single stars, and about 17.1 per cent of single stars might be produced from the binary merger channel and should have similar properties to VFTS 102. This suggests that the binary merger channel might be one of the main channels for the formation of rapidly rotating massive stars like VFTS 102.

A possible formation channel for blue hook stars in globular cluster – II. Effects of metallicity, mass ratio, tidal enhancement efficiency and helium abundance

Employing tidally enhanced stellar wind, we studied in binaries the effects of metallicity, mass ratio of primary to secondary, tidal enhancement efficiency and helium abundance on the formation of blue hook (BHk) stars in globular clusters (GCs). A total of 28 sets of binary models combined with different input parameters are studied. For each set of binary model, we presented a range of initial orbital periods that is needed to produce BHk stars in binaries. All the binary models could produce BHk stars within different range of initial orbital periods. We also compared our results with the observation in the Teff-logg diagram of GC NGC 2808 and {\omega} Cen. Most of the BHk stars in these two GCs locate well in the region predicted by our theoretical models, especially when C/N-enhanced model atmospheres are considered. We found that mass ratio of primary to secondary and tidal enhancement efficiency have little effects on the formation of BHk stars in binaries, while metallicity and helium abundance would play important roles, especially for helium abundance. Specifically, with helium abundance increasing in binary models, the space range of initial orbital periods needed to produce BHk stars becomes obviously wider, regardless of other input parameters adopted. Our results were discussed with recent observations and other theoretical models.

The detached-binary channel for the formation of contact binaries

The detached-binary channel is an important channel for the formation of contact binaries, according to which a detached binary might evolve into contact by evolutionary expansion of the components, or angular momentum loss through the effect of magnetic braking. We have carried out a detailed binary population synthesis study of this channel, and obtained the parameter regions for detached binaries to evolve into contact. Combining the observations from the Kepler satellite with our results, we found that the ratio of the birth rate of the progenitors of contact binaries to that of contact binaries is greater than about 1.2. This suggests that for the detached-binary channel, the progenitors can be sufficient to produce observed contact binaries. In this channel, we find that the distribution of orbital period for contact binaries has a peak at about 0.25 d and a tail extending to longer periods, and the formation time-scale of contact binaries has a large range from similar to 1 Myr to 15 Gyr. These results show that the detached-binary channel could explain satisfactorily the main observational characteristics of contact binaries, in particular the distribution of orbital period shown by the Kepler observations and the existence of very young contact binaries.

An Unexpected Detection of Bifurcated Blue Straggler Sequences in the Young Globular Cluster NGC 2173

Bifurcated patterns of blue straggler stars in their color--magnitude diagrams have atracted significant attention. This type of special (but rare) pattern of two distinct blue straggler sequences is commonly interpreted as evidence of cluster core-collapse-driven stellar collisions as an efficient formation mechanism. Here, we report the detection of a bifurcated blue straggler distribution in a young Large MagellanicCloud cluster, NGC 2173. Because of the clusters low central stellar number density and its young age, dynamical analysis shows that stellar collisions alone cannot explain the observed blue straggler stars. Therefore, binary evolution is instead the most viable explanation of the origin of these blue straggler stars. However, the reason why binary evolution would render the color--magnitude distribution of blue straggler stars bifurcated remains unclear.

Contribution of Primordial Binary Evolution to the Two Blue-straggler Sequences in Globular Cluster M30

Two blue-straggler sequences discovered in globular cluster M30 provide a strong constraint on the formation mechanisms of blue stragglers. We study the formation of the blue-straggler binaries through binary evolution, and find that binary evolution can contribute to the blue stragglers in both of the sequences. Whether a blue straggler is located in the blue sequence or red sequence depends on the contribution of the mass donor to the total luminosity of the binary, which is generally observed as a single star in globular clusters. The blue stragglers in the blue sequence have a cool white-dwarf companion, while the majority (