The Past and Future of Detached Double White Dwarfs with Helium Donors

TL;DR

This paper develops a modeling method for the evolution of detached double white dwarf binaries with helium donors, emphasizing the role of hydrogen fusion and CNO flashes in their evolution and potential to predict system conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a combined stellar and orbital evolution model that accounts for hydrogen fusion and CNO flashes, improving understanding of DWD systems' evolutionary history.

Findings

Hydrogen fusion significantly influences donor evolution.

CNO flashes affect the ability to constrain evolutionary history.

Models can predict conditions at reattachment for various donor masses.

Abstract

We present a method for modeling the evolution of detached double white dwarf (DWD) binaries hosting helium donors from the end of the common envelope (CE) phase to the onset of Roche Lobe overflow (RLOF). This is achieved by combining detailed stellar evolution calculations of extremely low mass (ELM) helium WDs possessing hydrogen envelopes with the the orbital shrinking of the binary driven by gravitational radiation. We show that the consideration of hydrogen fusion in these systems is crucial, as a significant fraction ($\approx$50%) of future donors are expected to still be burning when mass transfer commences. We apply our method to two detached eclipsing DWD systems, SDSS J0651+2844 and NLTT-11748, in order to demonstrate the effect that carbon-nitrogen-oxygen (CNO) flashes have on constraining the evolutionary history of such systems. We find that when CNO flashes are absent on the low mass WD ($M_{2}$ < $0.18 M_{\odot}$), such as in NLTT-11748, we are able to self consistently solve for the donor conditions at CE detachment given a reliable cooling age from the massive WD companion. When CNO flashes occur (0.18 $M_{\odot}$ < $M_{2}$ < 0.36 $M_{\odot}$), such as in SDSS J0651+2844, the evolutionary history is eradicated and we are unable to comment on the detachment conditions. We find that for any donor mass our models are able to predict the conditions at reattachment and comment on the stabilizing effects of hydrogen envelopes. This method can be applied to a population of detached DWDs with measured donor radii and masses.