New method of estimating binary's mass ratios by using superhumps

Abstract

We propose a new dynamical method of estimating binary's mass ratios by using the period of superhumps in SU UMa-type dwarf novae during the growing stage (the stage A superhumps). This method is based on the working hypothesis that the period of superhumps in the growing stage is determined by the dynamical precession rate at the 3W1 resonance radius, and is suggested in our new interpretation of the superhump period evolution during a superoutburst (2013, PASJ, 65, 95). By comparing objects having known mass ratios, we show that our method can provide sufficiently accurate mass ratios comparable to those obtained by eclipse observations in quiescence. One of the advantages of this method is that it requires neither an eclipse nor any experimental calibration. It is particularly suitable for exploring the low mass-ratio end of the evolution of cataclysmic variables, where the secondary is not detectable by conventional methods. Our analysis suggests that previous determinations of the mass ratio by using superhump periods during a superoutburst were systematically underestimated for low mass-ratio systems, and we provided a new calibration. It reveals that most WZSge-type dwarf novae have either secondaries close to the border of the lower main-sequence or brown dwarfs, and most of the objects have not yet reached the evolutionary stage of period bouncers. Our results are not in contradiction with an assumption that an observed minimum period (∼77 min) of ordinary hydrogen-rich cataclysmic variables is indeed the minimum period. We highlight how important the early observation of stage A superhumps is, and propose an effective future strategy of observation. © 2013. Astronomical Society of Japan.