Pulsations in Binary Star Systems

TL;DR

Space-based observations have significantly advanced the study of pulsating stars in binary systems, enabling precise measurements and insights into stellar physics, binary evolution, and the interplay of tides and pulsations.

Contribution

This paper highlights the synergy of asteroseismology and binary star observations, emphasizing new methods for constraining stellar and binary evolution physics.

Findings

Eclipsing binaries are ideal for testing stellar models.

Combining binary and asteroseismic data improves understanding of stellar interiors.

Tidal effects can be studied through tidal asteroseismology.

Abstract

High-precision and long-duration light curves from space telescopes have revolutionized the fields of asteroseismology and binary star systems. In particular, the number of pulsating systems in eclipsing binaries has drastically increased thanks to space-based observations covering almost the entire sky. When combined with multi-epoch spectroscopy, this allows us not only to measure model-independent dynamical masses and radii for thousands of eclipsing binary systems, but also facilitates the powerful synergy of binarity and asteroseismology. Moreover, asteroseismology of pre- and post-interaction binary stars allows the physics of binary evolution to be constrained, including tides, mass transfer, and even mergers. We conclude that: (1) eclipsing binaries are among the best laboratories for testing stellar structure and evolution theory because we are able to measure their masses and radii independently of models; (2) combining binary and asteroseismic modeling yields precise constraints on the physical processes at work within stellar interiors, such as rotation and mixing; (3) pulsating binaries are challenging to study given the plethora of different techniques and physical processes that need to be considered depending on their orbital and physical properties; and (4) the impact of tides on the pulsational, stellar structure, and orbital properties of a binary system can be tested through tidal asteroseismology.