Long photometric cycles in hot algols

Abstract

We summarize the development of the field of Double Periodic Variables (DPVs, Mennickent et al. 2003) during the last fourteen years, placing these objects in the context of intermediate-mass close interacting binaries similar to β Persei (Algol) and β Lyrae (Sheliak) which are generally called Algols. DPVs show enigmatic long photometric cycles lasting on average about 33 times the orbital period, and have physical properties resembling, in some aspects, β Lyrae. About 200 of these objects have been found in the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds. Light curve models and orbitally resolved spectroscopy indicate that DPVs are semi-detached interacting binaries consisting of a near main-sequence B-type star accreting matter from a cooler giant and surrounded by an optically thick disc. This disc contributes a significant fraction of the system luminosity and its luminosity is larger than expected from the phenomenon of mass accretion alone. In some systems, an optically thin disc component is observed in well developed Balmer emission lines. The optically thick disc shows bright zones up to tens percent hotter than the disc, probably indicating shocks resulting from the gas and disc stream dynamics. We conjecture that a hotspot wind might be one of the channels for a mild systemic mass loss, since evidence for jets, winds or general mass loss has been found in β Lyrae, AUMon, HD170582, OGLE05155332-6925581 and V393 Sco. Also, theoretical work by Van Rensbergen et al. (2008) and Deschamps et al. (2013) suggests that hotspot could drive mass loss from Algols. We give special consideration to the recently published hypothesis for the long-cycle, consisting of variable mass transfer driven by a magnetic dynamo (Schleicher and Mennickent 2017). The Applegate (1992) mechanism should modify cyclically the equatorial radius of the chromospherically active donor producing cycles of enhanced mass loss through the inner Lagrangian point. Chromospheric emission in V393 Sco, an optically thicker hotspot in the high-state of HD170582 and evidence for magnetic fields in many Algols are observational facts supporting this picture. One of the open questions for this scenario is why, among the Algols showing evidence for magnetic fields, the DPV long-cycle is present only under some combinations of stellar parameters, particularly those including the B-type gainers. Other open questions are what are the descendants of these interesting binaries, how much mass contain the discs around the likely rapidly rotating gainers, and the role played by the outflows through the Lagrangian L2 and L3 points reported in a couple of systems.

Keywords

• binaries: close
• Stars: evolution
• Stars: mass-loss