Physics Of Eclipsing Binaries. VII. Interferometric module

TL;DR

This paper introduces an interferometric module for Phoebe that enables high-resolution spatial measurements of binary star systems, accounting for complex physical effects and allowing integration with other observational data.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel interferometric module for Phoebe that models binary stars with detailed physical effects and can be combined with other datasets for comprehensive system analysis.

Findings

Accurately models Roche distortion, rotation, and eclipses.

Allows combination with light curves and radial velocities.

Provides a flexible tool for stellar system modeling.

Abstract

Interferometric measurements are essential to constrain models of stellar systems, by spatially resolving angular distances and diameters well below the classical diffraction limit. In this work, we describe the interferometric module of Phoebe, which could be used just for this purpose. Since binaries in Phoebe are represented by a triangular mesh, our complex model is based on the integration over triangles. Consequently, Roche distortion, rotation, non-synchronicity, misalignment, eclipses of components, darkening, reflection, or irradiation are all accurately accounted for. For comparison purposes, we provide a simplified model, where components are represented by circular disks. The key point of our approach is a possibility of combination with other datasets (light curves, radial velocities), which allows to construct robust models of stellar systems. This draft refers to a development version of Phoebe, available at https://github.com/miroslavbroz/phoebe2/tree/interferometry . It is not yet included in the official Phoebe repository!