The binary mass ratios of circumbinary planet hosts

Abstract

Almost a dozen circumbinary planets have been found transiting eclipsing binaries. For the first time the observational bias of this sample is calculated with respect to the mass ratio of the host binaries. It is shown that the mass ratio affects transit detection in multiple, sometimes subtle ways, through stability and dynamics of orbits, dilution of transit depths and the geometric transit and eclipse probabilities. Surprisingly though, it is found that these effects largely cancel out. Consequently, the transit detections in the Kepler mission are essentially unbiased with respect to mass ratio, and hence likely representative of the true underlying population. It is shown the mass ratio distribution of circumbinary hosts may be the same as field binaries, and hence roughly uniform, but more observations are needed to deduce any subtle differences. These results are discussed in the context of close binary formation and evolution, of which the mass ratio is believed to be a marker, and other surveys for circumbinary planets including TESS and BEBOP.