New Mass Estimates for Massive Binary Systems: A Probabilistic Approach Using Polarimetric Radiative Transfer
New Mass Estimates for Massive Binary Systems: A Probabilistic Approach Using Polarimetric Radiative Transfer
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DOI：
10.3847/1538-4357/ac589e
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发表时间：
2022-02
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
A. Fullard;J. O’Brien;W. E. Kerzendorf;M. Shrestha;J. Hoffman;R. Ignace;Patrick van der Smagt
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文献类型：
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作者：
A. Fullard;J. O’Brien;W. E. Kerzendorf;M. Shrestha;J. Hoffman;R. Ignace;Patrick van der Smagt
理解大质量双星的演化需要对其质量进行精确估算。这种理解至关重要，因为大质量恒星的演化可能会产生引力波源，比如双黑洞或中子星。对于具有光学厚星风的沃尔夫 - 拉叶（WR）星，只有通过对具有光谱学\(M\sin i\)测量值的双星系统进行精确的倾角估算，才能确定它们的质量。轨道相位极化信号可以编码双星系统的倾角，其中WR星风充当散射区域。我们研究了四个沃尔夫 - 拉叶 + O型星双星系统，WR 42、WR 79、WR 127和WR 153，利用公开的相位极化数据来估算它们的质量。为了避免极化分析模型中存在的偏差，同时保持计算的便捷性，我们使用了一个由神经网络精确模拟的蒙特卡罗辐射传输模型。我们利用这个模拟模型来研究我们四个系统参数的后验分布。根据估算的倾角计算出的质量估算值对其中三个系统现有的质量估算值施加了很强的限制，并且与WR 153现有的质量估算值不一致。我们建议共同努力获取极化观测数据，这些数据可用于估算WR双星系统的质量，并增进我们对其演化路径的理解。
Understanding the evolution of massive binary stars requires accurate estimates of their masses. This understanding is critically important because massive star evolution can potentially lead to gravitational-wave sources such as binary black holes or neutron stars. For Wolf–Rayet (WR) stars with optically thick stellar winds, their masses can only be determined with accurate inclination angle estimates from binary systems which have spectroscopic Msini measurements. Orbitally phased polarization signals can encode the inclination angle of binary systems, where the WR winds act as scattering regions. We investigated four Wolf–Rayet + O star binary systems, WR 42, WR 79, WR 127, and WR 153, with publicly available phased polarization data to estimate their masses. To avoid the biases present in analytic models of polarization while retaining computational expediency, we used a Monte Carlo radiative-transfer model accurately emulated by a neural network. We used the emulated model to investigate the posterior distribution of the parameters of our four systems. Our mass estimates calculated from the estimated inclination angles put strong constraints on existing mass estimates for three of the systems, and disagree with the existing mass estimates for WR 153. We recommend a concerted effort to obtain polarization observations that can be used to estimate the masses of WR binary systems and increase our understanding of their evolutionary paths.