Hot donors in cataclysmic variables: The case of EI Psc

TL;DR

This study provides detailed system parameters and evolutionary insights into the dwarf nova EI Psc, revealing its low-mass white dwarf, secondary star, accretion dynamics, and suggesting its formation from progenitors with specific mass ranges.

Contribution

It offers the first comprehensive analysis of EI Psc's fundamental parameters, accretion structures, and evolutionary origin using combined spectroscopic, photometric, and modeling techniques.

Findings

White dwarf mass is 0.70 solar masses.

Secondary star mass is 0.13 solar masses.

System shows outbursts and superoutbursts.

Abstract

Context: We present results of time-resolved optical spectroscopy and photometry of the short-orbital period dwarf nova EI Psc. Aims: This study aims to determine fundamental system parameters of EI Psc, study properties of accretion structures in the system, and investigate its origin and current evolution state. Methods: We analyse newly obtained time-resolved spectroscopic and photometric observations as well as archival data. We used light curve modelling, Doppler tomography, and MESA evolutionary models to study the characteristics of EI Psc. Results: The system contains a relatively low temperature ($T_{\rm eff} = 6130\,\mathrm{K}$) white dwarf with mass of $M_{\mathrm WD} = 0.70(4)\,\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$. The mass of the warm ($T_2 = 4440\,\mathrm{K}$) secondary is $M_2 = 0.13\,\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$. The inclination of the system is $i= 44.5\deg(7)$. The mass accretion rate is $\approx$ $4\times10^{-13}\,\mathrm{M}_\odot\,\mathrm{year}^{-1}$. The long-term light curve of the system shows outbursts and superoutbursts. The quiescence light curve is double-humped and is formed by the combination of radiation from the Roche lobe filling the hot secondary and the hot spot. The radius of the outer disc is about two times smaller than the tidal truncation radius. Most of the disc's emission consists of emission lines and radiation from the hot spot at the stream-disc impact region. Conclusions: These types of systems are formed from progenitors with a low mass WD $\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{WD}} \lesssim 0.6\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$ and relatively massive secondaries $1.1-1.5\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$ with initial orbital periods on a scale of days. The number of similar systems is expected to be significantly lower than the usual CVs due to a lower forming rate of their relatively massive progenitors.