Tidal Synchronization of Binaries in Pleiades

TL;DR

This study investigates tidal synchronization in binary stars within the Pleiades cluster, revealing a transition near 8.6-14 days in orbital period, with implications for stellar evolution and binary dynamics.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive observational analysis of tidal synchronization in Pleiades binaries, linking synchronization to orbital period, mass ratio, and stellar type.

Findings

Seven binaries are tidally synchronized with Porb < 8.6 days.

Synchronization transition occurs near Porb ~ 8.6-14 days.

Most synchronized systems have high mass ratios and may evolve into double white dwarfs.

Abstract

Tidal interactions in close binaries play a key role in the long-term rotational and orbital evolution. The distributions of circularization across open clusters (OCs) place strong observational constraints on tidal dissipation in binaries. However, direct observational constraints on synchronization among binaries in OCs remain limited. For the 125 Myr OC Pleiades, this work combines cluster membership from Gaia Data Release 3, rotation periods from the K2 mission, and orbital solutions of the binary population from a long-term spectroscopic survey, to investigate the degree of tidal synchronization in each binary by comparing the pseudo-synchronization period to the rotation period of the primary stars. Among 42 binaries with reliable orbital periods Porb and rotation periods, we identify seven tidally synchronized systems with Porb < 8.6 days, including one early-type system and six late-type systems. For binaries with longer Porb, primaries generally are super-synchronized, and most systems are eccentric. We find a synchronization transition near Porb ~ 8.6-14 days, comparable to the known circularization period (Porb ~ 7.2 days) in the Pleiades, which suggests similar critical period scales for synchronization and circularization in this coeval population. Synchronization depends much more strongly on mass ratio than on primary mass. Most synchronized systems in Pleiades have high mass ratios and are likely to evolve into double white dwarf systems. Tides likely impose strong rotational braking on close early-type binaries, while their influence on late-type close binaries is weaker, and their spins largely follow the single-star sequence.