Post-common-envelope binaries from SDSS. XI: The white dwarf mass distributions of CVs and pre-CVs

TL;DR

This study compares white dwarf mass distributions in cataclysmic variables and their progenitors, revealing higher masses in CVs that challenge existing models and suggest new evolutionary pathways or mass growth mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides the first extensive comparison of WD masses in CVs and pre-CVs, highlighting discrepancies that imply significant revisions to CV evolution theories.

Findings

CVs have a higher mean WD mass (0.83 Msun) than pre-CVs (0.67 Msun).

Selection effects cannot explain the high WD masses in CVs.

Possible CV formation above the orbital-period gap or WD mass growth through accretion are suggested explanations.

Abstract

We have known for a long time that many of the measured white dwarf (WD) masses in cataclysmic variables (CVs) significantly exceed the mean mass of single WDs. This was thought to be related to observational biases, but recent high-precision measurements of WD masses in a great number of CVs are challenging this interpretation. We review the measured WD masses of CVs, determine the WD-mass distribution of an extensive sample of post-common-envelope binaries (PCEBs) that are representative for the progenitors of the current CV population (pre-CVs) and compare both distributions. We calculate the CV formation time of the PCEBs in our sample by determining the post common-envelope (CE) and the main-sequence evolution of the binary systems and define a pre-CV to be a PCEB that evolves into a semi-detached configuration with stable mass transfer within less than the age of the Galaxy. Possible observational biases affecting the WD-mass distribution for the pre-CV and the CV samples are discussed. The mean WD mass among CVs is <Mwd>=0.83\pm0.23 Msun, much larger than that found for pre-CVs, <Mwd>=0.67\pm0.21 Msun. Selection effects cannot explain the high WD masses observed in CVs and we here suggest two possible explanations, both of which imply substantial revisions to the standard model of CV evolution: either most CVs have formed above the orbital-period gap (which requires a high WD mass to initiate stable mass transfer or a previous phase of thermal-timescale mass transfer), or the mass of the WDs in CVs grows through accretion (which strongly disagrees with the predictions of classical nova models). Both options may imply that CVs contribute to the single-degenerate progenitors of Type Ia supernovae. The number of He-core WDs found in CVs (<=10%) is roughly consistent with the number of He-core WDs in pre-CVs (<=17+-8%), which indicates a low value of the CE efficiency.