Discoveries and Properties of EL CVn-type Binaries in the TESS Survey

TL;DR

This study identifies and characterizes 29 EL CVn-type binary systems from TESS data, providing insights into their properties, formation, and evolution, and offering a valuable catalog for future research on binary star evolution.

Contribution

The paper presents the first large sample of EL CVn binaries from TESS, including 11 new discoveries, with detailed modeling of their parameters and comparison to evolutionary models.

Findings

29 EL CVn systems identified, 11 new discoveries.

Systems are consistent with white dwarf mass-period relations.

Results support stable mass transfer formation scenario.

Abstract

EL CVn-type systems represent a rare evolutionary stage in binary star evolution, providing ideal laboratories for investigating stable mass transfer processes and the formation of extremely low-mass white dwarfs (ELM WDs). The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has delivered an extensive collection of high-precision time-domain photometric data, which is invaluable for studying EL CVn binaries. In this study, we identified 29 EL CVn systems from the TESS eclipsing binary catalogs (sectors 1-65), 11 of which are newly discovered. These systems consist of smaller, hotter pre-He white dwarfs and A/F main-sequence stars. The orbital periods of these binaries range from 0.64 to 2.5 days. Utilizing TESS light curves, Gaia distances, and multi-band photometric data (e.g., GALEX, 2MASS, WISE, SkyMapper), we modeled the light curves and spectral energy distributions to derive system parameters, including effective temperatures, masses, and radii. These systems were then compared with the white dwarf mass-period relation and the evolutionary tracks of ELM WDs. The comparison reveals that these binaries are consistent with the expected mass-period relation for white dwarfs and align well with the evolutionary tracks on the Teff-logg diagram for ELM WDs. This result suggests that these EL CVn systems likely formed through stable mass transfer processes. We provide a catalog of complete parameters for 29 EL CVn systems identified from the TESS survey. This catalog will serve as an essential resource for studying binary mass transfer, white dwarf formation, and pulsation phenomena in EL CVn-type systems.