Optical Identification of Close White Dwarf Binaries in the LISA Era

Abstract

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is expected to detect close white dwarf binaries (CWDBs) through their gravitational radiation. Around 3000 binaries will be spectrally resolved at frequencies > 3 mHz, and their positions on the sky will be determined to an accuracy ranging from a few tens of arcminutes to a degree or more. Due to the small binary separation, the optical light curves of >~ 30% of these CWDBs are expected to show eclipses, giving a unique signature for identification in follow-up studies of the LISA error boxes. While the precise optical location improves binary parameter determination with LISA data, the optical light curve captures additional physics of the binary, including the individual sizes of the stars in terms of the orbital separation. To optically identify a substantial fraction of CWDBs and thus localize them very accurately, a rapid monitoring campaign is required, capable of imaging a square degree or more in a reasonable time, at intervals of 10--100 seconds, to magnitudes between 20 and 25. While the detectable fraction can be up to many tens of percent of the total resolved LISA CWDBs, the exact fraction is uncertain due to unknowns related to the white dwarf spatial distribution, and potentially interesting physics, such as induced tidal heating of the WDs due to their small orbital separation.

arXiv comment4 pages, 2 figures

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• Prospects for detection of detached double white dwarf binaries with Gaia, LSST and LISA
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• The Evolution of Compact Binary Star Systems
• Double white dwarfs and LISA
• The Galactic Gravitational wave foreground
• Gravitational Wave Radiation of Double Degenerates with Extremely low-mass WD companions
• Gravitational Wave Background of Neutron Star-White Dwarf Binaries
• Apparent Superluminality of Lensed Gravitational Waves
• LISA astronomy of double white dwarf binary systems
• LISA Measurement of Gravitational Wave Background Anisotropy: Hexadecapole Moment via a Correlation Analysis
• The Effect of the LISA Response Function on Observations of Monochromatic Sources
• Detectability of modulated X-rays from LISA's supermassive black hole mergers
• Prospects for observing ultra-compact binaries with space-based gravitational wave interferometers and optical telescopes
• Graviton Mass from Close White Dwarf Binaries Detectable with LISA
• Gravitational Wave Sources as Timing References for LISA Data
• High-Speed Optical Spectroscopy