New insights into the helium star formation channel of AM CVn systems with explanations of Gaia14aae and ZTFJ1637+49

TL;DR

This paper models helium-rich star evolution to explain properties of specific AM CVn systems, highlighting the role of additional magnetic braking in their formation, which aligns well with observed data.

Contribution

It introduces a double-dynamo magnetic braking model for evolved donors, improving the understanding of AM CVn system formation through the helium-star channel.

Findings

Modelled donor properties match Gaia14aae and ZTFJ1637+49 observations.

Additional AML due to magnetic dynamos is crucial for accurate system evolution.

Standard gravitational wave AML alone does not explain the observed systems.

Abstract

We model helium-rich stars with solar metallicity ($X=0.7,\:Z=0.02$) progenitors that evolve to form AM Canum Venaticorum systems through a helium-star formation channel, with the aim to explain the observed properties of Gaia14aae and ZTFJ1637+49. We show that semi-degenerate, H-exhausted ($X\leq 10^{-5}$), He-rich ($Y\approx0.98$) donors can be formed after a common envelope evolution (CEE) phase if either additional sources of energy are used to eject the common envelope, or a different formalism of CEE is implemented. We follow the evolution of such binary systems after the CEE phase using the Cambridge stellar evolution code, when they consist of a He-star and a white dwarf accretor, and report that the mass, radius, and mass-transfer rate of the donor, the orbital period of the system, and the lack of hydrogen in the spectrum of Gaia14aae and ZTFJ1637+49 match well with our modelled trajectories wherein, after the CEE phase Roche lobe overflow is governed not only by the angular momentum loss (AML) owing to gravitational wave radiation ($\mathrm{AML_{GR}}$) but also an additional AML owing to $\alpha-\Omega$ dynamos in the donor. This additional AML is modelled with our double-dynamo (DD) model of magnetic braking in the donor star. We explain that this additional AML is just a consequence of extending the DD model from canonical cataclysmic variable donors to evolved donors. We show that none of our modelled trajectories match with Gaia14aae or ZTFJ1637+49 if the systems are modelled only with $\mathrm{AML_{GR}}$.