On the formation of Be stars through binary interaction

Abstract

Be stars are rapidly rotating B-type stars. The origin of their rapid rotation is not certain, but binary interaction remains as a possibility. In this work, we investigate the formation of Be stars resulting from mass transfer in binaries in the Galaxy. We calculate binary evolution with both stars evolving simultaneously and consider different possible mass accretion histories for the accretor. From the calculated results, we obtain the critical mass ratios qcr that determine the stability of the mass transfer. We also numerically calculate the parameter λ in common envelope evolution and then incorporate both qcr and λ into the population synthesis calculations. We present the predicted numbers and characteristics of Be stars in binary systems with different types of companions, including helium stars, white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. We find that in Be/neutron star binaries, the Be stars can have a lower mass limit ∼8 M⊙ if they are formed by stable (i.e., without the occurrence of common envelope evolution) and nonconservative mass transfer. We demonstrate that isolated Be stars may originate from both mergers of two main-sequence stars and disrupted Be binaries during the supernova explosions of the primary stars, but mergers seem to play a much more important role. Finally, the fraction of Be stars that have involved binary interactions in all B-type stars can be as high as ∼13%-30%, implying that most Be stars may result from binary interaction.