The angular momentum (AM) content of massive stellar cores helps to determine the natal spin rates of neutron stars and black holes. Asteroseismic measurements of low-mass stars have proven that stellar cores rotate slower than predicted by most prior work, so revised models are necessary. In this work, we apply an updated AM transport model based on the Tayler instability to massive helium stars in close binaries, in which tidal spin-up can greatly increase the star's AM. Consistent with prior work, these stars can produce highly spinning black holes upon core-collapse if the orbital period is less than $P_{\rm orb} \lesssim \! 1 \, {\rm day}$. For neutron stars, we predict a strong correlation between the pre-explosion mass and the neutron star rotation rate, with millisecond periods ($P_{\rm NS} \lesssim 5 \, {\rm ms}$) only achievable for massive ($M \gtrsim 10 \, M_\odot$) helium stars in tight ($P_{\rm orb} \lesssim 1 \, {\rm day}$) binaries. Finally, we discuss our models in relation to type Ib/c supernovae, superluminous supernove, gamma-ray bursts, and LIGO measurements of black hole spins. Our models are roughly consistent with the rates and energetics of these phenomena, with the exception of broad-lined Ic supernovae, whose high rates and ejecta energies are difficult to explain.
We perform binary evolution calculations on helium star - carbon-oxygen white dwarf (CO WD) binaries using the stellar evolution code MESA. This single degenerate channel may contribute significantly to thermonuclear supernovae at short delay times. We examine the thermal-timescale mass transfer from a 1.1 - 2.0 $M_{\odot}$ helium star to a 0.90 - 1.05 $M_{\odot}$ CO WD for initial orbital periods in the range 0.05 - 1 day. Systems in this range may produce a thermonuclear supernova, helium novae, a helium star - oxygen-neon WD binary, or a detached double CO WD binary. Our time-dependent calc…
Helium accretion induced explosions in CO white dwarfs (WDs) are considered promising candidates for a number of observed types of stellar transients, including supernovae (SNe) of Type Ia and Type Iax. However, a clear favorite outcome has not yet emerged. We explore the conditions of helium ignition in the white dwarf and the final fates of helium star-WD binaries as function of their initial orbital periods and component masses. We compute 274 model binary systems with the Binary Evolution Code (BEC), where both components are fully resolved. Stellar and orbital evolution is computed simult…
I study the possibility that within the frame of the core degenerate (CD) scenario for type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) the merger process of the core of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star and the white dwarf (WD) maintains an envelope mass of ~0.03Mo that causes a later helium shell flash. I estimate the number of pre-explosion helium shell flash events to be less than few per cents of all CD scenario SNe Ia. A helium shell flash while the star moves to the left on the HR diagram as a post-AGB star (late thermal pulse; LTP) or along the WD cooling track (very LTP) causes the star to expand and…
The impact of Type Ia supernova ejecta on a helium-star companion is investigated via high-resolution, two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations. For a range of helium-star models and initial binary separations it is found that the mass unbound in the interaction, $δM_{\rm ub}$, is related to the initial binary separation, $a$, by a power law of the form $δM_{\rm ub} \propto a^{m}$. This power-law index is found to vary from -3.1 to -4.0, depending on the mass of the helium star. The small range of this index brackets values found previously for hydrogen-rich companions, suggesting that the dep…
Helium star - carbon-oxygen white dwarf (CO WD) binaries are potential single-degenerate progenitor systems of thermonuclear supernovae. Revisiting a set of binary evolution calculations using the stellar evolution code $\texttt{MESA}$, we refine our previous predictions about which systems can lead to a thermonuclear supernova and then characterize the properties of the helium star donor at the time of explosion. We convert these model properties to NUV/optical magnitudes assuming a blackbody spectrum and support this approach using a matched stellar atmosphere model. These models will be val…
The white dwarf (WD) + helium (He) star binary channel plays an important role in the single degenerate scenario for the progenitors of type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). Previous studies on the WD + main sequence star evolution have shown that the magnetic fields of WDs may significantly influence their accretion and nuclear burning processes. In this work we focus on the evolution of magnetized WD + He star binaries with detailed stellar evolution and binary population synthesis (BPS) calculations. In the case of magnetized WDs, the magnetic fields may disrupt the inner regions of the accretion di…
Hydrodynamical simulations of helium-ignited binary white dwarf mergers
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth（麻省大学达特茅斯分校）；Center for Scientific Computing and Data Science Research University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth（麻省大学达特茅斯分校科学计算与数据科学研究中心）；Georgia Institute of Technology（佐治亚理工学院）；Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics（马克斯·普朗克天体物理学研究所）
In over a thousand known cataclysmic variables (CVs), where a white dwarf is accreting from a hydrogen-rich star, only a dozen have orbital periods below 75 minutes. One way to achieve these short periods requires the donor star to have undergone substantial nuclear evolution prior to interacting with the white dwarf, and it is expected that these objects will transition to helium accretion. These transitional CVs have been proposed as progenitors of helium CVs. However, no known transitional CV is expected to reach an orbital period short enough to account for most of the helium CV population…
Intermediate-mass binary pulsars (IMBPs) are composed of neutron stars (NSs) and CO/ONe white dwarfs (WDs). It is generally suggested that IMBPs evolve from intermediate-mass X-ray binaries (IMXBs). However, this scenario is difficult to explain the formation of IMBPs with orbital periods ($P_{\rm orb}$) less than 3 d. It has recently been proposed that a system consisting of a neutron star (NS) and a helium (He) star can form IMBPs with $P_{\rm orb}$ less than 3 d (known as the NS+He star scenario), but previous works can only cover a few observed sources with short orbital periods. We aim to…
Stellar-mass black holes are the final remnants of stars born with more than 15 solar masses. Billions are expected to reside in the Local Group, yet only few are known, mostly detected through X-rays emitted as they accrete material from a companion star. Here, we report on VFTS 243: a massive X-ray faint binary in the Large Magellanic Cloud. With an orbital period of 10.4-d, it comprises an O-type star of 25 solar masses and an unseen companion of at least nine solar masses. Our spectral analysis excludes a non-degenerate companion at a 5-sigma confidence level. The minimum companion mass im…
We investigate predicted circumstellar properties of Type Ia supernova progenitor systems with non-degenerate helium star donors. It has been suggested that systems consisting of a carbon+oxygen white dwarf and a helium star can lead to Type Ia supernova explosions. Binary evolution calculations for the helium star donor channel predict that such a progenitor system is in either a stable helium-shell burning phase or a weak helium-shell flash phase at the time of the Type Ia supernova explosion. By taking the binary evolution models from our previous study, we show that a large fraction of the…
Accretion-induced collapse (AIC) from oxygen/neon/magnesium composition white dwarf (ONeMg WD) + stripped helium (He) star binaries is one promising channel to form peculiar neutron star objects. It has been discussed that the WD's magnetic field may alter the accretion phase in the WD binary evolution. By considering non-magnetic and sufficiently magnetized WDs, we investigate the evolution of ONeMg WD + He star binaries with detailed stellar evolution and binary population synthesis simulations. The role of the magnetically confined accretion in the possible formation pathway for like millis…
Upsilon Sagittarii is a hydrogen-deficient binary that has been suggested to be in its second stage of mass transfer, after the primary has expanded to become a helium supergiant following core helium exhaustion. A tentative identification of the faint companion in the ultraviolet led to mass estimates of both components that made the helium star in Upsilon Sagittarii a prototypical immediate progenitor of a type Ib/c supernova. However, no consistent model for the complex spectrum has been achieved, casting doubt on this interpretation. In the present study we provide for the first time a com…
Type Ia supernovae are cosmic distance indicators, and the main source of iron in the Universe, but their formation paths are still debated. Several dozen supersoft X-ray sources, in which a white dwarf accretes hydrogen-rich matter from a non-degenerate donor star, have been observed and suggested as Type Ia supernovae progenitors. However, observational evidence for hydrogen, which is expected to be stripped off the donor star during the supernova explosion, is lacking. Helium-accreting white dwarfs, which would circumvent this problem, have been predicted for more than 30 years, also includ…
The spin period (185 ms) and period derivative ($1.8\times10^{-17}\,\rm s\,s^{-1}$) of the double neutron star (DNS) system PSR J1930$-$1852 recently discovered indicate that the pulsar was mildly recycled through the process of Roche-lobe overflow. This system has the longest orbital period (45 days) of the known DNS systems, and can be formed from a helium star-NS binary if the initial mass of the helium star was $ \lesssim 4.0M_{\odot} $; otherwise the helium star would never fill its Roche-lobe \citep{t15}. At the moment of the supernova explosion, the mass of the helium star was $ \lesssi…
We investigate the evolution of Type Ib/c supernova (SN Ib/c) progenitors in close binary systems, using new evolutionary models that include the effects of rotation, with initial masses of 12 - 25 Msun for the primary components, and of single helium stars with initial masses of 2.8 - 20 Msun. We find that, despite the impact of tidal interaction on the rotation of primary stars, the amount of angular momentum retained in the core at the presupernova stage in different binary model sequences converge to a value similar to those found in previous single star models. This amount is large enough…
Neutron star-helium white dwarf (NS+He WD) binaries are important evolutionary products of close-orbit binary star systems. They are often observed as millisecond pulsars and may continue evolving into ultra-compact X-ray binaries (UCXBs) and continuous gravitational wave (GW) sources that will be detected by space-borne GW observatories, such as LISA, TianQin and Taiji. Nevertheless, the stability of NS+He WD binaries undergoing mass transfer is not well studied and still under debate. In this paper, we model the evolution of NS+He WD binaries with WD masses ranging from 0.17-0.45 $M_{\odot}$…
KL Dra is a helium accreting AM CVn binary system with an orbital period close to 25 mins. Approximately every 60 days there is a 4 mag optical outburst lasting ~10 days. We present the most sensitive X-ray observations made of an AM CVn system during an outburst cycle. A series of eight observations were made using XMM-Newton which started shortly after the onset of an optical outburst. We find that X-rays are suppressed during the optical outburst. There is some evidence for a spectral evolution of the X-ray spectrum during the course of the outburst. A periodic modulation is seen in the UV …
A massive millisecond magnetar may survive a merger of a neutron star (NS) binary, which would continuously power the merger ejecta. We develop a generic dynamic model for the merger ejecta with energy injection from the central magnetar. The ejecta emission (the "merger-nova") powered by the magnetar peaks in the UV band and the peak of lightcurve progressively shifts to an earlier epoch with increasing frequency. A magnetar-powered mergernova could have an optical peak brightness comparable to a supernova, which is a few tens or hundreds times brighter than the radioactive-powered merger-nov…
Low-mass white dwarfs (LMWDs) are believed to be exclusive products of binary evolution, as the Universe is not yet old enough to produce them from single stars. Because of the strong tidal forces operating during the binary interaction phase, the remnant host systems observed today are expected to have negligible eccentricities. Here, we report on the first unambiguous identification of a LMWD in an eccentric (e=0.13) orbit with a millisecond pulsar, which directly contradicts this picture. We use our spectra and radio-timing solution (derived elsewhere) to infer the WD temperature T_eff = 86…
PSR J1640+2224 is a binary millisecond pulsar (BMSP) with a white dwarf (WD) companion. Recent observations indicate that the WD is very likely to be a $\sim 0.7\,M_{\odot}$ CO WD. Thus the BMSP should have evolved from an intermediate-mass X-ray binary (IMXB). However, previous investigations on IMXB evolution predict that the orbital periods of the resultant BMSPs are generally $<40$ days, in contrast with the 175 day orbital period of PSR J1640+2224. In this paper, we explore the influence of the mass of the neutron star (NS) and the chemical compositions of the companion star on the format…
A large number of extremely low-mass helium white dwarfs (ELM WDs) have been discovered in recent years. The majority of them are found in close binary systems suggesting they are formed either through a common-envelope phase or via stable mass transfer in a low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) or a cataclysmic variable (CV) system. Here, we investigate the formation of these objects through the LMXB channel with emphasis on the proto-WD evolution in environments with different metallicities. We study, for the first time, the combined effects of rotational mixing and element diffusion (e.g. gravitatio…
Reassessing the Spin of Second-born Black Holes in Coalescing Binary Black Holes and Its Connection to the chi_eff-q Correlation
Anhui Normal University（安徽师范大学）；University of Nevada, Las Vegas（内华达大学拉斯维加斯分校）；Zhejiang University of Technology（浙江工业大学）；Université de Genève（日内瓦大学）；Guizhou University（贵州大学）
The most commonly accepted progenitor system for Type Iax supernovae (SNe Iax) is the partial deflagration of a near-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf (WD) accreting from a non-degenerate helium donor star, leaving a bound remnant following the explosion. In this paper, we investigate whether the WD remant can undergo multiple SNe during the system's lifetime. We use Modules for Experiments in Astrophysics (MESA) to evolve various single-degenerate binaries to determine which could plausibly undergo multiple SNe Iax due to multiple helium accretion phases. We also investigate the possibility for …
Recently born magnetars are promising candidates for the engines powering fast radio bursts (FRBs). The focus thus far has been placed on millisecond magnetars born in rare core-collapse explosions, motivated by the star forming dwarf host galaxy of the repeating FRB 121102, which is remarkably similar to the hosts of superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) and long gamma-ray bursts (LGRB). However, long-lived magnetars may also be created in binary neutron star (BNS) mergers, in the small subset of cases with a sufficiently low total mass for the remnant to avoid collapse to a black hole, or in the …
Helium superluminous SN 2021bnw : an explosion of a massive star with a pre-outburst
Sapienza Università di Roma（罗马第一大学）；Université Paris-Saclay（巴黎萨克雷大学）；Université Paris Cité（巴黎西岱大学）；CEA（法国原子能及替代能源委员会）；CNRS（法国国家科学研究中心）；AIM（天体物理研究所与分子研究中心）；Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris（巴黎天文台）；INAF, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri（意大利国家天体物理研究所阿切特里天文台）；Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University（莫斯科国立大学斯登伯格天文研究所）；Astro Space Center（太空天文中心）
To date, various formation channels of merging events have been heavily explored with the detection of nearly 100 double black hole (BH) merger events reported by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration. We here systematically investigate an alternative formation scenario, i.e., binary BHs (BBHs) formed through double helium stars (hereafter double-core evolution channel). In this scenario, the two helium stars (He-rich stars) could be the outcome of the classical isolated binary evolution scenario involving with and without common-envelope phase (i.e., CE channel and stable mass transfer cha…
Some binary systems composed of a white dwarf (WD) and a hot subdwarf (sdB) helium star will make contact within the helium burning lifetime of the sdB star. The accreted helium on the WD inevitably undergoes a thermonuclear instability, causing a detonation that is expected to transition into the WD core and lead to a thermonuclear supernova while the donor orbits nearby with high velocity. Motivated by the recent discovery of fast-moving objects that occupy unusual locations on the HR diagram, we explore the impact of the thermonuclear supernovae on the donors in this specific double detonat…
Type Ibn supernovae (SNe) are a mysterious class of transients whose spectra exhibit persistently narrow HeI lines, and whose bolometric light curves are typically fast evolving and overluminous at peak relative to standard Type Ibc SNe. We explore the interaction scenario of such Type Ibn SNe by performing radiation-hydrodynamics and radiative-transfer calculations. We find that standard-energy helium-star explosions within dense wind-like circumstellar material (CSM) can reach on day timescales a peak luminosity of a few 10^44 erg/s, reminiscent of exceptional events like AT2018cow. Similar …
We study the evolution of close binary systems in order to account for the existence of the recently observed binary system containing the most massive millisecond pulsar ever detected, PSR J0740+6620, and its ultra-cool helium white dwarf companion. In order to find a progenitor for this object we compute the evolution of several binary systems composed by a neutron star and a normal donor star employing our stellar code. We assume conservative mass transfer. We also explore the effects of irradiation feedback on the system. We find that irradiated models also provide adequate models for the …
Many core collapse supernovae (SNe) with hydrogen-poor and low-mass ejecta, such as ultra-stripped SNe and type Ibn SNe, are observed to interact with dense circumstellar material (CSM). These events likely arise from the core-collapse of helium stars which have been heavily stripped by a binary companion and ejected significant mass during the last weeks to years of their lives. In helium star models run to days before core-collapse, we identify a range of helium core masses $\approx 2.5 -3 M_{\odot}$ whose envelopes expand substantially due to helium shell burning while the core undergoes ne…
Population inference of gravitational-wave catalogues is a useful tool to translate observations of black-hole mergers into constraints on compact-binary formation. Different formation channels predict identifiable signatures in the astrophysical distributions of source parameters, such as masses and spins. One example within the scenario of isolated binary evolution is mass-ratio reversal: even assuming efficient core-envelope coupling in massive stars and tidal spin-up of the stellar companion by the first-born black hole, a compact binary with a lighter, non-spinning first-born black hole a…
The age of gravitational wave (GW) astronomy has begun, and black hole (BH) mergers detected by LIGO are providing novel constraints on massive star evolution. A major uncertainty in stellar theory is the angular momentum (AM) transport within the star that determines its core rotation rate and the resulting BH's spin. Internal rotation rates of low-mass stars measured from asteroseismology prove that AM transport is efficient, suggesting that massive stellar cores may rotate slower than prior expectations. We investigate AM transport via the magnetic Tayler instability, which can largely expl…
According to the recycling scenario, millisecond pulsars (MSPs) have evolved from low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs). Their orbits are expected to be circular due to tidal interactions during the binary evolution, as observed in most of the binary MSPs. There are some peculiar systems that do not fit this picture. Three recent examples are PSRs J2234$+$06, J1946$+$3417 and J1950$+$2414, all of which are MSPs in eccentric orbits but with mass functions compatible with expected He white dwarf companions. It has been suggested these MSPs may have formed from delayed accretion-induced collapse of mas…
We present three-dimensional simulations on a new mechanism for the detonation of a sub-Chandrasekhar CO white dwarf in a dynamically unstable system where the secondary is either a pure He white dwarf or a He/CO hybrid. For dynamically unstable systems where the accretion stream directly impacts the surface of the primary, the final tens of orbits can have mass accretion rates that range from $10^{-5}$ to $10^{-3} M_{\odot}$ s$^{-1}$, leading to the rapid accumulation of helium on the surface of the primary. After $\sim 10^{-2}$ $M_{\odot}$ of helium has been accreted, the ram pressure of the…
We carry out a comprehensive smooth particle hydrodynamics simulation survey of double-degenerate white dwarf binary mergers of varying mass combinations in order to establish correspondence between initial conditions and remnant configurations. We find that all but one of our simulation remnants share general properties such as a cold, degenerate core surrounded by a hot disk, while our least massive pair of stars forms only a hot disk. We characterize our remnant configurations by the core mass, the rotational velocity of the core, and the half-mass radius of the disk. We also find that some…
Using deep Chandra observations of the globular cluster M28, we study the quiescent X-ray emission of a neutron star in a low-mass X-ray binary in order to constrain the chemical composition of the neutron star atmosphere and the equation of state of dense matter. We fit the spectrum with different neutron star atmosphere models composed of hydrogen, helium or carbon. The parameter values obtained with the carbon model are unphysical and such a model can be ruled out. Hydrogen and helium models give realistic parameter values for a neutron star, and the derived mass and radius are clearly dist…
Effects of a new triple-alpha reaction rate on the ignition of carbon-oxygen white dwarfs accreting helium in a binary systems have been investigated. The ignition points determine the properties of a thermonuclear explosion of a Type Ia supernova. We examine the cases of different accretion rates of helium and different initial masses of the white dwarf, which was studied in detail by Nomoto. We find that for all cases from slow to intermediate accretion rates, nuclear burnings are ignited at the helium layers. As a consequence, carbon deflagration would be triggered for the lower accretion r…
The spins of merging binary black holes offer insights into their formation history. Recently it has been argued that in isolated binary evolution of two massive stars the firstborn black hole is slowly rotating, whilst the progenitor of the second-born black hole can be tidally spun up if the binary is tight enough. Naively, one might therefore expect that only the less massive black hole in merging binaries exhibits non-negligible spin. However, if the mass ratio of the binary is "reversed" (typically during the first mass transfer episode), it is possible for the tidally spun up second-born…
