The Binary Fraction of Red Supergiants in the Magellanic Clouds

Abstract

Red supergiants (RSGs), as the descendants of OB-type stars and the progenitors of supernovae, provide crucial insights into the evolution of massive stars, particularly in binary systems. Previous studies show that the binary fraction of RSGs ($\approx$ 15% - 40%) is significantly lower than that of their predecessors ($\approx$ 50% - 70%). In this work, we investigate the binary fraction of RSGs with the recently selected largest samples of 4695 and 2097 RSGs in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), respectively. The binary system with a hot companion (O-, B- and A-type star) is identified by detecting the ultraviolet (UV) excess in the observed spectral energy distribution (SED) ranging from ultraviolet to mid-infrared after subtracting the model SED of RSG since RSGs are very weak in the UV band. It is found that the lower limit of binarity is 30.2% $\pm$ 0.7% and 32.2% $\pm$ 1% in the LMC and SMC, respectively. If the sample is limited to luminous RSGs with log $L/L_{\odot} > 4.0$, the binary fraction becomes 26.6% $\pm$ 1.1% and 26.4% $\pm$ 1.7% in the LMC and SMC, respectively. The derived binary fraction is valid in the range of $\sim$ 2.3 < $\log P / [\text{d}]$ < $\sim$ 8. Our study suggests that roughly one-third of massive stars host a third companion within $\sim$ 30,000 AU. In addition, 15 RSGs are also identified as binary via HST/STIS spectra, and a handful of the binaries identified by the SED fitting are confirmed by their light curve and radial velocity dispersion. The stellar parameters of the companions, i.e. $T_{\mathrm{eff}}$, $R$, $L$ and log $g$, are calculated by model fitting.