| Issue |
A&A
Volume 690, October 2024
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Article Number | A177 | |
| Number of page(s) | 6 | |
| Section | Stellar structure and evolution | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202449314 | |
| Published online | 07 October 2024 | |
Irradiation-driven mass transfer for massive companion stars in supersoft X-rays sources
1
Institute of Electromagnetic Wave, School of Physics, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, China
2
Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650216, China
3
Key Laboratory for the Structure and Evolution of Celestial Objects, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650216, China
4
International Centre of Supernovae, Yunnan Key Laboratory, Kunming 650216, PR China
5
Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Received:
23
January
2024
Accepted:
23
August
2024
Context. Supersoft X-ray sources (SSSs) have been proposed as one of the progenitors for Type Ia supernovae. However, the exact origin of the quasi-periodic variability in the optical light curve remains a mystery.
Aims. In this work, our goal is to investigate the effect of the feedback of an evolved main-sequence companion star on X-ray irradiation and find whether periodic X-ray irradiation of the companion star could reproduce periodic mass transfer.
Methods. Using the Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA) code, we modeled the evolutionary track of the companion star under the influence of supersoft X-ray irradiation, and we calculated the resulting mass transfer rate.
Results. We find that the supersoft X-ray heating of the companion star can result in the expansion of the companion, causing it to greatly overflow its Roche lobe and thereby increasing the mass transfer rate. The periodic X-ray irradiation on the companion stars leads to periodic changes in the mass transfer rate. For a given companion star, higher irradiation efficiencies result in a higher mass transfer rate. Additionally, the mass transfer rate increases as the mass of the companion star decreases for a given irradiation efficiency.
Conclusions. The companion star undergoing thermal timescale mass transfer is periodically irradiated by the X-rays from the WD, which can lead to periodic enhancement of the mass transfer rate. The mechanism could be the origin of the quasi-periodic optical light curve in supersoft X-ray sources.
Key words: stars: evolution / novae / cataclysmic variables / supernovae: general / white dwarfs
© The Authors 2024
Open Access article, published by EDP Sciences, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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