Statistical Estimates of the Binary Properties of Rotational Variables

TL;DR

This paper introduces a statistical model to estimate key properties of binary star populations, such as primary mass and companion mass ranges, using observational data, and demonstrates its effectiveness on real and synthetic datasets.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel statistical model that accurately estimates binary star properties and assesses its sensitivity through tests, improving understanding of stellar populations.

Findings

Model effectively estimates primary mass and companion mass ranges.

Application to ASAS-SN data yields consistent primary mass estimates.

Sensitivity analysis shows strongest sensitivity to primary mass and minimum companion mass.

Abstract

We present a model to estimate the average primary masses, companion mass ranges, the inclination limit for recognizing a rotational variable, and the primary mass spreads for populations of binary stars. The model fits a population's binary mass function distribution and allows for a probability that some mass functions are incorrectly estimated. Using tests with synthetic data, we assess the model's sensitivity to each parameter, finding that we are most sensitive to the average primary mass and the minimum companion mass, with less sensitivity to the inclination limit and little to no sensitivity to the primary mass spread. We apply the model to five populations of binary spotted rotational variables identified in ASAS-SN, computing their binary mass functions using RV data from APOGEE. Their average primary mass estimates are consistent with our expectations based on their CMD locations ($\sim0.75 M_{\odot}$ for lower main sequence primaries and $\sim 0.9$--$1.2 M_{\odot}$ for RS CVn and sub-subgiants). Their companion mass range estimates allow companion masses down to $M_2/M_1\simeq0.1$, although the main sequence population may have a higher minimum mass fraction ($\sim0.4$). We see weak evidence of an inclination limit $\gtrsim50^{\circ}$ for the main sequence and sub-subgiant groups and no evidence of an inclination limit in the other groups. No groups show strong evidence for a preferred primary mass spread. We conclude by demonstrating that the approach will provide significantly better estimates of the primary mass and the minimum mass ratio and reasonable sensitivity to the inclination limit with 10 times as many systems.