The Structure of the Test Function for Phenomenological Modelling of Eclipsing Binaries

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the test function structure in a phenomenological model for eclipsing binaries, proposing a two-step minimization method to effectively approximate light curves despite local minima.

Contribution

It introduces a two-step minimization approach combining brute force and differential corrections for modeling eclipsing binary light curves.

Findings

Effective approximation of light curves using the method.

Identification of local minima challenges in the parameter space.

Application to real stars demonstrates practical utility.

Abstract

The dependence of the test function on the phenomenological parameters used in the "NAV" ("New Algol Variable") algorithm (Andronov, 2012Ap.....55..536A) is studied. Due to a presence of local minima, the method of minimization contains two steps: the "brute force" minimization at a grid in the 4D parameter space, and further iterations using the differential corrections. This method represents an effective approximation of the light curve using the special pattern (shape) separately for the primary and secondary minima. The application of the method to concrete stars is briefly reviewed.