Multiwavelength study of observed and predicted pulsation properties of First overtone Cepheids in the Magellanic Clouds

TL;DR

This study analyzes multiwavelength light curves of First Overtone Cepheids in the Magellanic Clouds, revealing break-points in their relations and comparing observations with models to constrain pulsation theories.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of pulsation properties and identifies break-points in key relations, enhancing understanding of Cepheid behavior in the Magellanic Clouds.

Findings

Higher amplitude stars in SMC than LMC

Multiple break-points in PC/PL/AC relations near specific periods

Strong correlation between pulsation properties and models

Abstract

We present a detailed analysis of the light curves and pulsation properties of First Overtone (FO) Cepheids in the Magellanic Clouds (MCs) obtained using observations and predictions from stellar pulsation models. Multiwavelength observational light curves were compiled from the literature (OGLE-IV, Gaia and VMC). We investigate the period-amplitude (PA), period-colour (PC), period-luminosity (PL), and amplitude-colour (AC) relations for FO Cepheids at multiwavelengths. We find that the PA distribution of FO Cepheids in the MCs modelled using a Gaussian Mixture Model shows that the SMC consists of higher amplitude stars than the LMC. We find multiple break-points in the PC/PL/AC relations for FO/FU Cepheids in the optical and near-infrared bands including the one near to P = 2.5 d in the MCs using piecewise regression analysis and F- test statistics. Similarly, for the LMC FO Cepheids, we find a break-point in the PC/PL/AC relations near P = 0.58 d. The slopes of the PC relations for LMC FO Cepheids are found to be shallow for 0.58 < P(d) < 2.5 but steeper for P < 0.58 d and P > 2.5 d. We complemented the observed relations using theoretical models for FO Cepheids with chemical compositions Z = 0.008 and Z = 0.004, appropriate for the LMC and SMC, respectively computed with MESA-RSP. Our results show that the pulsation properties of FO Cepheids in PC/PL/AC relations and colour-magnitude diagram are strongly correlated and their connections can provide stringent constraints for the theoretical pulsation models.