Mass distribution for single-lined hot subdwarf stars in LAMOST

Abstract

Masses for 664 single-lined hot subdwarf stars identified in LAMOST were calculated by comparing synthetic fluxes from spectral energy distribution (SED) with observed fluxes from virtual observatory service. Three groups of hot subdwarf stars were selected from the whole sample according to their parallax precision to study the mass distributions. We found, that He-poor sdB/sdOB stars present a wide mass distribution from 0.1 to 1.0 $\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$ with a sharp mass peak around at 0.46 $\rm{M}_{\odot}$, which is consistent with canonical binary model prediction. He-rich sdB/sdOB/sdO stars present a much flatter mass distribution than He-poor sdB/sdOB stars and with a mass peak around 0.42 $\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$. By comparing the observed mass distributions to the predictions of different formation scenarios, we concluded that the binary merger channel, including two helium white dwarfs (He-WDs) and He-WD + main sequence (MS) merger, cannot be the only main formation channel for He-rich hot subdwarfs, and other formation channels such as the surviving companions from type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) could also make impacts on producing this special population, especially for He-rich hot subdwarfs with masses less than 0.44 $\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$. He-poor sdO stars also present a flatter mass distribution with an inconspicuous peak mass at 0.18 $\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$. The similar mass - $\Delta RV_\mathrm{max}$ distribution between He-poor sdB/sdOB and sdO stars supports the scenario that He-poor sdO stars could be the subsequent evolution stage of He-poor sdB/sdOB stars.