THE CLOSE COMPANION MASS-RATIO DISTRIBUTION OF INTERMEDIATE-MASS STARS

Abstract

Binary stars and higher-order multiple systems are a ubiquitous outcome of star formation, especially as the system mass increases. The companion mass-ratio distribution is a unique probe into the conditions of the collapsing cloud core and circumstellar disk(s) of the binary fragments. Inside the disks from the two forming stars can interact, and additionally companions can form directly through disk fragmentation. We should, therefore, expect the mass-ratio distribution of close companions ( AU) to differ from that of wide companions. This prediction is difficult to test using traditional methods, in particular, with intermediate-mass primary stars, for a variety of observational reasons. We present the results of a survey searching for companions to A- and B-type stars using the direct spectral detection method, which is sensitive to late-type companions within of the primary and which has no inner working angle. We estimate the temperatures and surface gravity of most of the 341 sample stars and derive their masses and ages. We additionally estimate the temperatures and masses of the 64 companions we find, 23 of which are new detections. We find that the mass-ratio distribution for our sample has a maximum near . Our mass-ratio distribution has a very different form than in previous works, where it is usually well-described by a power law, and indicates that close companions to intermediate-mass stars experience significantly different accretion histories or formation mechanisms than wide companions.