On the variation of light curve parameters of RR Lyrae variables at multiple wavelengths

TL;DR

This study analyzes RR Lyrae star light curves across multiple wavelengths using Fourier decomposition, comparing observations with stellar pulsation models to understand their properties and distance measurements.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive comparison of observed and theoretical light curve parameters across wavelengths, and derives a new distance estimate to the LMC independent of metallicity.

Findings

Theoretical and observed Fourier parameters are consistent across wavelengths.

Fourier amplitude decreases and phase increases with wavelength.

Distance modulus of LMC estimated as 18.51±0.07.

Abstract

We present a detailed light curve analysis of RR Lyrae variables at multiple wavelengths using Fourier decomposition method. The time-series data for RR Lyrae variables in the Galactic bulge and the Magellanic Clouds are taken from the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment survey while the infrared light curves are compiled from the literature. We also analyse the multiband theoretical light curves that are generated from the stellar pulsation models of RR Lyrae stars for a wide range of metal-abundances. We find that the theoretical light curve parameters with different metal abundances are consistent with observed parameters in most period bins at both optical and infrared wavelengths. The theoretical and observed Fourier amplitude parameters decrease with increase in wavelength while the Fourier phase parameters increase with wavelength at a given period. We use absolute magnitudes for a subset of theoretical models that fit the observed optical RR Lyrae light curves in the Large Magellanic Cloud to estimate a distance modulus, $\mu_\textrm{LMC}=18.51\pm0.07$, independent of the metallicity. We also use Fourier analysis to study the period-color and amplitude-color relations for RR Lyrae stars in the Magellanic Clouds using optical data and find that the slope of period-color relation at minimum light is very shallow or flat and becomes increasingly significant at the maximum light for RRab stars. We also find that the metallicity dependence of the period-color relations increases as we go from minimum to maximum light, suggesting that the mean light results are indeed an average of the various pulsational phases. We summarize that the average variation in these relations is consistent between theory and observations and supports the theory of the interaction of the stellar photosphere and the hydrogen ionization front.