Post common envelope binaries from SDSS. XII: The orbital period distribution

Abstract

The complexity of the common envelope phase and of magnetic stellar wind braking currently limits our understanding of close binary evolution. Because of their intrinsically simple structure, observational population studies of white dwarf plus main sequence (WDMS) binaries hold the potential to test theoretical models and constrain their parameters. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) has provided a large and homogeneously selected sample of WDMS binaries, which we are characterising in terms of orbital and stellar parameters. We have obtained radial velocity information for 385 WDMS binaries from follow-up spectroscopy, and for an additional 861 systems from the SDSS sub-spectra. Radial velocity variations identify 191 of these WDMS binaries as post common envelope binaries (PCEBs). Orbital periods of 58 PCEBs were subsequently measured, predominantly from time-resolved spectroscopy, bringing the total number of SDSS PCEBs with orbital parameters to 79. Observational biases inherent to this PCEB sample were evaluated through extensive Monte Carlo simulations. We find that 21-24% of all SDSS WDMS binaries have undergone common envelope evolution, which is in good agreement with published binary population models and high-resolution HST imaging of WDMS binaries unresolved from the ground. The bias corrected orbital period distribution of PCEBs ranges from 1.9 h to 4.3 d and follows approximately a normal distribution in log(Porb), peaking at ~10.3 h. There is no observational evidence for a significant population of PCEBs with periods in the range of days to weeks. The large and homogeneous sample of SDSS WDMS binaries provides the means to test fundamental predictions of binary population models, and hence to observationally constrain the evolution of all close compact binaries.

Accepted or publication in A&A, 22 pages, 13 figures, 6 tables

References in corpus (18)

• The UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS)
• The WFCAM Science Archive
• The UKIRT Wide Field Camera ZYJHK Photometric System: Calibration from 2MASS
• The Donor Stars of Cataclysmic Variables
• Post-common-envelope binaries from SDSS. IX: Constraining the common-envelope efficiency
• Binary Planetary Nebulae Nuclei towards the Galactic Bulge. I. Sample Discovery, Period Distribution and Binary Fraction
• The Interaction of Stellar Objects within a Common Envelope
• Post Common Envelope Binaries from SDSS. I: 101 white dwarf main sequence binaries with multiple SDSS spectroscopy
• Post Common Envelope Binaries from SDSS. V: Four eclipsing white dwarf main sequence binaries
• New Close Binary Systems from the SDSS-I (Data Release Five) and the Search for Magnetic White Dwarfs in Cataclysmic Variable Progenitor Systems
• How Many CVs are Crossing the Period Gap? A Test for the Disruption of Magnetic Braking
• HS2237+8154: On the onset of mass transfer or entering the period gap?
• X-Ray-Emitting Stars Identified from the ROSAT All-Sky Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• SDSS White Dwarf mass distribution at low effective temperatures
• Post common envelope binaries from SDSS. II: Identification of 9 close binaries with VLT/FORS2
• Post common envelope binaries from SDSS. IV: SDSSJ121258.25-012310.1, a new eclipsing system
• Discovery of the Partially Eclipsing White Dwarf Binary SDSS J143547.87+373338.5
• K-band spectroscopy of pre-cataclysmic variables

Cited by in corpus (103)

• The Evolution of Compact Binary Star Systems
• Hot subluminous stars
• Post-common-envelope binaries from SDSS. XI: The white dwarf mass distributions of CVs and pre-CVs
• The binarity of the local white dwarf population
• Accretion of a giant planet onto a white dwarf
• On the Orbits of Low-mass Companions to White Dwarfs and the Fates of the Known Exoplanets
• The redshift evolution of the binary black hole merger rate: a weighty matter
• The effect of common-envelope evolution on the visible population of post-common-envelope binaries
• The origin and evolution of magnetic white dwarfs in close binary stars
• Hot subdwarf binaries from the MUCHFUSS project - Analysis of 12 new systems and a study of the short-period binary population
• The ELM Survey. VII. Orbital Properties of Low Mass White Dwarf Binaries
• The ELM Survey. VIII. 98 Double White Dwarf Binaries
• Monte Carlo simulations of post-common-envelope white dwarf + main sequence binaries: comparison with the SDSS DR7 observed sample
• A White Dwarf with Transiting Circumstellar Material Far Outside the Roche Limit
• The SDSS spectroscopic catalogue of white dwarf-main sequence binaries: new identifications from DR9-12
• Eclipsing Post Common Envelope Binaries from the Catalina Surveys
• Predicting the Fate of Binary Red Giants Using the Observed Sequence E Star Population: Binary Planetary Nebula Nuclei and Post-RGB Stars
• White dwarf-main sequence binaries from Gaia EDR3: the unresolved 100pc volume-limited sample
• Two white dwarfs in ultrashort binaries with detached, eclipsing, likely substellar companions detected by K2
• The White Dwarf Binary Pathways Survey I: A sample of FGK stars with white dwarf companions
• The Effects of Close Companions (and Rotation) on the Magnetic Activity of M Dwarfs
• Binary Stars in the New Millennium
• Detached cataclysmic variables are crossing the orbital period gap
• Ultra-short Period Binaries from the Catalina Surveys
• White dwarf-main sequence binaries from SDSS DR8: unveiling the cool white dwarf population
• WD 1856 b: a close giant planet around a white dwarf that could have survived a common-envelope phase
• The First Science Results from SPHERE: Disproving the Predicted Brown Dwarf around V471 Tau
• Post-common envelope binaries from SDSS - XVI. Long orbital period systems and the energy budget of CE evolution
• A Catalogue of Potential Post Common Envelope Binaries
• A radial velocity survey for post-common-envelope Wolf-Rayet central stars of planetary nebulae: First results and discovery of the close binary nucleus of NGC 5189
• Three New Eclipsing White-dwarf - M-dwarf Binaries Discovered in a Search for Transiting Planets Around M-dwarfs
• A New Gravitational Wave Verification Source
• Characterizing the Cool KOIs. V. KOI-256: A Mutually Eclipsing Post-Common Envelope Binary
• Fourteen new eclipsing white dwarf plus main-sequence binaries from the SDSS and Catalina surveys
• Post-common-envelope binaries from SDSS. XIII: Mass dependencies of the orbital period distribution
• White dwarf-main sequence binaries from LAMOST: the DR5 catalogue
• The white dwarf binary pathways survey - II. Radial velocities of 1453 FGK stars with white dwarf companions from LAMOST DR4
• The population of white dwarf-main sequence binaries in the SDSS DR 12
• The White Dwarf Binary Pathways Survey IV: Three close white dwarf binaries with G-type secondary stars
• M dwarf companions to white dwarfs I: relating magnetic activity, rotation and age
• Constraining the solar neighbourhood age-metallicity relation from white dwarf-main sequence binaries
• Towards a volumetric census of close white dwarf binaries I.Reference samples
• Magnetic white dwarfs in post-common-envelope binaries
• White dwarf-main sequence binaries from LAMOST: the DR1 catalogue
• The age-metallicity relation in the solar neighbourhood from a pilot sample of white dwarf-main sequence binaries
• When flux standards go wild: white dwarfs in the age of Kepler
• The evolution of the self-lensing binary KOI-3278: evidence of extra energy sources during CE evolution
• The crowded magnetosphere of the post common envelope binary QS Virginis
• Using large spectroscopic surveys to test the double degenerate model for Type Ia supernovae
• The White Dwarf Binary Pathways Survey -- VIII: a post common envelope binary with a massive white dwarf and an active G-type secondary star
• The White Dwarf Binary Pathways Survey VI: two close post common envelope binaries with TESS light curves
• Monte Carlo population synthesis of post-common-envelope white dwarf binaries and type Ia supernova rate
• The Time-Domain Spectroscopic Survey: Target Selection for Repeat Spectroscopy
• The planetary nebula IC 4776 and its post-common-envelope binary central star
• Reversing the verdict: Cataclysmic variables could be the dominant progenitors of AM CVn binaries after all
• SALT HRS discovery of a long period double-degenerate binary in the planetary nebula NGC 1360
• Are white dwarf magnetic fields in close binaries generated during common-envelope evolution?
• White dwarf-main sequence binaries identified from the LAMOST pilot survey
• The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs: Spectroscopic orbits of nine M-dwarf multiple systems, including two triples, two brown dwarf candidates, and one close M-dwarf-white dwarf binary
• Post-dynamical inspiral phase of common envelope evolution: Binary orbit evolution and angular momentum transport
• Observational Constraints on the Common Envelope Phase
• White-dwarf+main-sequence binaries identified from the tenth data release of Solan Digital Sky Survey
• Compact white-dwarf binaries in the combined SRG/eROSITA/SDSS eFEDS survey
• Discovery of ZZ Cetis in detached white dwarf plus main-sequence binaries
• The Mass Distribution of Companions to Low-Mass White Dwarfs
• The White Dwarf Binary Pathways Survey VII: Evidence for a bi-modal distribution of post mass transfer systems?
• Activity and Kinematics of White Dwarf-M Dwarf Binaries from the SUPERBLINK Proper Motion Survey
• Mysterious, Variable, and Extremely Hot: White Dwarfs Showing Ultra-High Excitation Lines I. Photometric Variability
• Formation of long-period post-common-envelope binaries I. No extra energy is needed to explain oxygen-neon white dwarfs paired with AFGK-type main-sequence stars
• A 99-minute Double-lined White Dwarf Binary from SDSS-V
• Pulsating White Dwarfs
• White dwarf binaries Across the H-R Diagram
• Formation of long-period post-common-envelope binaries II. Explaining the self-lensing binary KOI 3278
• The first catalog of candidate white dwarf-main sequence binaries in open star clusters: A new window into common envelope evolution
• Formation and Evolution of Accreting Compact Objects
• Minute-Cadence Observations of the LAMOST Fields with the TMTS: II. Catalogues of Short-Period Variable Stars from the First Two-Year Surveys
• The post-common-envelope binary nucleus of the planetary nebula IC~4776: Neither an anomalously long orbital period nor a Wolf-Rayet binary
• Evidence for bimodal orbital separations of white dwarf-red dwarf binary stars
• Circular Polarimetry of Suspect Wind-accreting Magnetic pre-Polars
• Measuring White Dwarf Variability from Sparsely Sampled Gaia DR3 Multi-Epoch Photometry
• Revised Stellar Parameters for V471 Tau, A Post-common Envelope Binary in the Hyades
• Carbon-enhanced stars with short orbital and spin periods
• On the Rarity of X-Ray Binaries with Naked Helium Donors
• An extremely hot white dwarf with a rapidly rotating K-type subgiant companion: UCAC2 46706450
• Discovery of a young pre-intermediate polar
• The White Dwarf Binary Pathways Survey III: contamination from hierarchical triples containing a white dwarf
• Photometric variability of candidate white dwarf binary systems from Palomar Transient Factory archival data
• Today a Duo, But Once a Trio? The Double White Dwarf HS 2220$+$2146 May Be A Post-Blue Straggler Binary
• A population synthesis study of the Gaia 100 pc unresolved white dwarf-main sequence binary population
• Reconstructing post-common envelope white dwarf+main sequence binary histories through inverse population synthesis techniques
• A super-Eddington wind scenario for the progenitors of type Ia supernovae: binary population synthesis calculations
• A magnitude-limited catalogue of unresolved white dwarf-main sequence binaries from Gaia DR3
• White Dwarf Stars
• Search for binary central stars of the SMC PNe
• Two substellar survivor candidates; one found and one missing
• Precision Astrometry of the Exoplanet Host Candidate GD 66
• Analysis of Previously Classified White Dwarf-Main Sequence Binaries Using Data from the APOGEE Survey
• Multiple outflows and delayed ejections revealed by early imaging of novae
• A post-common-envelope binary with double-peaked Balmer emission lines from TMTS
• Mechanisms for magnetic braking boost and disruption: the role of irradiation-driven winds and convective turnover time spike in cataclysmic variables
• Robust detection of CID double stars in SDSS
• Direct detections of white dwarfs in four WD+dM post-common envelope binaries within 20 pc
• Magnetic dynamos in white dwarfs -III: explaining the occurrence of strong magnetic fields in close double white dwarfs