Mass-ratio distribution of extremely low-mass white dwarf binaries

TL;DR

This study analyzes the mass ratio distribution of binaries with extremely low-mass white dwarfs using statistical methods, finding that the companion mass distribution can be approximated by simple functions and that neutron star companions are unlikely.

Contribution

It reanalyzes existing data with two different statistical approaches, revealing the possible forms of companion mass distributions without assuming a specific functional form.

Findings

Companion mass distribution can be approximated by uniform or Gaussian functions.

Inversion method reveals fine-grain structure, but significance is uncertain.

Probability of neutron star companions is very low.

Abstract

Knowing the masses of the components of binary systems is very useful to constrain the possible scenarios that could lead to their existence. While it is sometimes possible to determine the mass of the primary star, for single-lined spectroscopic binaries it is not trivial to have good estimates of the mass of the secondary. If a large enough sample of such binaries is available, it is possible, however, to use statistical methods to determine the mass ratio distribution, and thus, the secondary mass distribution. Recently, Andrews et al. (2014) studied the mass distribution of companions to extremely low-mass white dwarfs, using a sample of binaries from the ELM WD Survey. I reanalyse the same sample, using two different methods: in the first one, I assume some functional form for the mass distribution, while in the second, I apply an inversion method. I show that the resulting companion-mass distribution can be as well approximated by either a uniform distribution or a Gaussian distribution. The mass ratio distribution derived from the inversion method, without assuming any a priori functional form, shows some additional fine-grain structure, although, given the small sample, it is difficult to claim that this structure is statistically significant. I conclude that it is not possible yet to fully constrain the distribution of the mass of the companions to extremely low-mass white dwarfs, although it appears that the probability to have a neutron star in one of the systems is indeed very small.