ZTF J021804.16+071152.93: a dead cataclysmic variable and potential solution to the missing period bouncers

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of a magnetic white dwarf-brown dwarf binary system that may explain the missing population of evolved cataclysmic variables, suggesting a new evolutionary pathway involving magnetic field emergence.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed observation of a detached magnetic white dwarf-brown dwarf binary, supporting the hypothesis that magnetic fields cause CVs to detach and become 'period bouncers.'

Findings

The system has a 1.7-hour orbital period.

The white dwarf has a magnetic field of 19 MG.

Kinematics suggest thick disk membership, conflicting with age estimates.

Abstract

It is predicted that half or more of all cataclysmic variables (CVs) should have evolved past the period minimum and now exist as so-called "period bouncers" where a white dwarf should be accreting from a Roche-lobe filling substellar companion. However, this prediction stands in stark contrast to observations, where only a few per cent of CVs are found in this evolutionary phase. A potential solution to this discrepancy is that a magnetic field emerges from within the white dwarf after the system has reached the period minimum. The transfer of angular momentum from the spin of the white dwarf into the orbit then pushes the two stars apart, detaching them for potentially billions of years. Here we present the discovery of ZTF J021804.16+071152.93, a detached $0.69\pm0.01 M_{\odot}$, 19 MG magnetic white dwarf plus $37\pm5 M_\mathrm{Jup}$ brown dwarf binary with an orbital period of 1.7 hours. The kinematics of the system indicate that it is a high probability member of the galactic thick disk. However, this strongly disagrees with the much younger age of the system obtained from the white dwarf parameters, implying that the system may have been accreting in the past. This system is therefore consistent with having detached as a result of the emergence of the magnetic field of the white dwarf when the system was still mass transferring, and may represent the ultimate fate for many (perhaps even most) CVs.