Protoplanetary disk evolution and stellar parameters of T Tauri binaries in Chamaeleon I

TL;DR

This study investigates how binary companions influence the evolution and lifetime of circumstellar disks around T Tauri stars in Chamaeleon I, revealing that close binaries have reduced accretion and hot dust presence, especially with certain mass ratios.

Contribution

It provides new high-resolution observational data on binary star systems in Cha I, quantifies the impact of binary separation and mass ratio on disk evolution, and highlights accelerated disk dispersal in close binaries.

Findings

Close binaries (25-100au) show 10% accretion, less than wider binaries.

Hot dust presence (~50%) is similar to single stars, except in very close binaries.

Accretion is mainly found in systems with unequal mass ratios (<0.8).

Abstract

This study aims to determine the impact of stellar binary companions on the lifetime and evolution of circumstellar disks in the Chamaeleon I (Cha I) star-forming region by measuring the frequency and strength of accretion and circumstellar dust signatures around the individual components of T Tauri binary stars. We used high-angular resolution adaptive optics JHKL'-band photometry and 1.5-2.5mu spectroscopy of 19 visual binary and 7 triple stars in Cha I - including one newly discovered tertiary component - with separations between ~25 and ~1000au. The data allowed us to infer stellar component masses and ages and, from the detection of near-infrared excess emission and the strength of Brackett-gamma emission, the presence of ongoing accretion and hot circumstellar dust of the individual stellar component of each binary. Of all the stellar components in close binaries with separations of 25-100au, 10(+15-5)% show signs of accretion. This is less than half of the accretor fraction found in wider binaries, which itself appears significantly reduced (~44%) compared with previous measurements of single stars in Cha I. Hot dust was found around 50(+30-15)% of the target components, a value that is indistinguishable from that of Cha I single stars. Only the closest binaries (<25au) were inferred to have a significantly reduced fraction (<~25%) of components that harbor hot dust. Accretors were exclusively found in binary systems with unequal component masses M_secondary/M_primary < 0.8, implying that the detected accelerated disk dispersal is a function of mass-ratio. This agrees with the finding that only one accreting secondary star was found, which is also the weakest accretor in the sample. The results imply that disk dispersal is more accelerated the stronger the dynamical disk truncation, i.e., the smaller the inferred radius of the disk. (abridged)