arXiv subjects

Conny Aerts

Publications and source records attributed to Conny Aerts.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Asteroseismic forward modelling of 36 $\beta$ Cep pulsators and inferences on their internal differential rotation

Asteroseismic observations of the interior rotation of main sequence stars have shown that angular momentum transport is much more efficient than expected. Which transport mechanisms are responsible for this is still unclear. Detections of radial differential rotation provide valuable constraints on these transport mechanisms. Differential rotation has been detected in several massive main sequence $\beta$ Cep pulsators, even though fewer than ten $\beta$ Cep stars have been asteroseismically modelled in detail so far. We aim to expand the sample of asteroseismically forward modelled $\beta$ Cep pulsators and exploit their potential to constrain angular momentum transport mechanisms. To that end, we seek to constrain their rotation profiles. We searched for rotational splitting of non-radial modes in a large $\beta$ Cep sample with identified mode degrees. These were subjected to a novel forward modelling approach involving a 6-dimensional parameter space, which consistently accounts for second-order rotation effects using the state-of-the-art StORM oscillation code. We successfully modelled 36 $\beta$ Cep stars and constrained crucial parameters such as their initial mass, internal rotation frequency, convective core mass, and age. Like in intermediate-mass stars, the internal rotation rate globally decreases in $\beta$ Cep stars as they evolve along the main sequence. Radial differential rotation is constrained in 17 $\beta$ Cep stars. We detect statistically significant deviations from quasi-rigid rotation in 13 stars. Our constraints on eight of these 13 stars indicate the rotation rate decreases with radius while it increases in three other stars, and two display non-monotonic rotation profiles. We affirm that radial differential rotation is common in $\beta$ Cep stars. Moreover, our constrained rotation profiles suggest that $\beta$ Cep rotation profiles may be non-monotonic.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2026

Gravity-mode main-sequence pulsators in the open clusters NGC 3532 and NGC 2516: Instability strip, near-core rotation, and internal structure

Context. Studying pulsating stars in clusters opens a new window onto stellar physics. Gravity-mode (g-mode) pulsators in open clusters allow us to measure their near-core rotation rates and, together with cluster age and mass constraints, test angular momentum transport in stars above about 1.5 solar masses. Aims. We aim to detect g-mode pulsations in member stars of the young open cluster NGC 3532, about 300 Myr old, and to measure their near-core rotation rates and internal properties. Methods. We used TESS photometry to extract light curves of NGC 3532 members. The observed g-mode period spacings allow us to measure near-core rotation rates and the asymptotic period spacing, Pi0. We also fitted isochrones to the colour-magnitude diagrams of NGC 3532 and NGC 2516 to refine the cluster ages and obtain stellar masses. Results. We constrain the observed instability region of young gamma Doradus members from a blue edge at about 7760 K to a red edge at about 7070 K, while some hotter g-mode pulsators are also seen. The near-core rotation rates show a rotation-mass relation similar to that in NGC 2516: below 1.6 solar masses, the rotation rate increases with mass, whereas above 1.6 solar masses the NGC 3532 stars reach a plateau at about 2.8 d^-1. This mass may mark a threshold between different rotational spin-down mechanisms. Existing evolutionary models with angular momentum transport imply that these g-mode pulsators were born rotating above 55 percent of the critical value. Our simplified models, assuming spherical symmetry, angular momentum conservation, and rigid internal rotation, suggest that either mass-dependent initial rotation rates are required, or that minor angular momentum loss still operates above 1.6 solar masses. Finally, our Pi0 measurements reveal a discrepancy with theoretical predictions for some pulsators, as also found in the younger cluster NGC 2516.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2026

Plato's view on supermassive black hole binaries: Exploring the faint limit of ESA's Plato space mission

The search for supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) has, in recent years, seen the dawn of exploration with several hundred candidates claimed from photometric and spectroscopic surveys monitoring AGNs. While only a handful persist to date, the advent of upcoming high-precision wide-field photometric missions motivates continuing the pursuit of confirming SMBHBs in the optical. We explore the possibility of using the ESA Plato space mission to detect photometric signatures of SMBHBs. Motivated by the Kepler observation of Spikey, the best known self-lensing flare (SLF) candidate to date, this work aims to benchmark the scientific outcome if Plato were to observe Spikey-like objects via its Guest Observer programme. Starting from the Gaia database, we assemble a catalogue of 12,226 bright ($G < 19$) high-probability Quasars for the two pointing fields of Plato's nominal mission. This Plato Quasar catalogue will be pivotal for future follow-up observations of larger photometric searches such as the Vera Rubin LSST survey. We use the Plato camera simulator, PlatoSim, to realistically explore the noise budget in Plato's faint limit, while generating mock light curves to benchmark Plato's ability to recover signatures of SMBHBs. We show that, although not at all designed for the purpose, Plato is capable of detecting Spikey-like SMBHB candidates through their relativistic photometric signatures using Bayesian inference and evidence. Plato will in particular be able to confirm or rule out Spikey and Spikey-like objects with a limiting magnitude of $G\leq18$. With a minimum 2-yr baseline per pointing field, we show that Plato not only could play an essential role in future SMBHB research, but may be an integrated part of the observational fleet of continuous high-precision facilities monitoring SMBHB candidates in the near future.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

Variability classification of TESS targets in LOPS2, the first long-term pointing field of PLATO. Version 1 of the public variability catalogue

The PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) mission is expected to launch in January 2027. A total of 8\% of its data rate will be dedicated to complementary science targets selected from approved Guest Observer proposals. We seek to provide an open-source catalogue of variable stars in PLATO's first long-term observing field, LOPS2. We want to use existing observations from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which has observed many stars in LOPS2. We classified 38 million calibrated aperture light curves from the TESS-Gaia Light Curve pipeline (TGLC, $G\lesssim17$) for 6 million unique sources in LOPS2 with two machine learning frameworks -- a deep neural network and a feature-based gradient-boosted decision-tree ensemble. We combined their predictions to create this first version of the LOPS2 variability catalogue, performed manual vetting of a sub-sample classified light curves, and a statistical analysis of the results to validate our methodology and to assess the variability properties and parameters of the stars in the catalogue. Our classification resulted in the identification of approximately 72% of the light curves having dominant instrument- or pipeline-induced signal, with the remaining 28% representing 3.6 million individual candidate variable stars, including pulsating, rotating, and eclipsing stars. Candidate pulsators exhibit varied behaviour in terms of their frequencies, amplitudes, rotation, and fundamental parameters. To ensure purity of the samples, filtering on colour, luminosity, the dominant frequency and its amplitude, and presence of close neighbours is helpful. We provide the first version of our PLATO LOPS2 variability catalogue to the community for further study and scrutiny. It is to date one of the largest catalogues of variable stars from an automated classification pipeline.

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arXiv2026

Assessment of PLATO Science Performance

The PLATO mission is scheduled for launch early 2027. In this paper we present an overview of the performance drivers for the mission at the time where all flight models of the cameras have been tested and integrated on the optical bench. The PLATO consortium needs an estimate of the planet detection yield to dimension the ground-based radial velocity follow-up resources. We provide updated estimates on the yield of planet detections that can be expected from the mission under certain assumptions. As of today, large uncertainties remain on the planet occurrence rates, especially for small planets in long-period orbits, and on our ability to detect these planets in the presence of stellar variability and instrumental noise. To partially overcome these limitations, we compare results using different planet occurrence rates, detectability rates, and we include an estimate on the expected contribution of stellar variability to the noise budget. The final detection yield of PLATO will provide constraints to planet occurrence rates which in turn will help constraining planet formation models.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2026

The PLATO Science Calibration and Validation Plan: Targets for the First Long-pointing Field

In order to meet the science goals of the PLATO space mission, an extensive science calibration and validation plan has been designed. This paper describes this plan, as well as the methodology adopted to select the science calibration and validation stars that have entered its input catalogue. This is the so-called {\tt scvPIC}, which is part of the general PLATO Input Catalogue (PIC) for the first selected long pointing field in the Southern Hemisphere known as LOPS2. While many of PLATO's science requirements needed dedicated stars as calibrators as discussed here, its most stringent requirement is the delivery of the age of the host stars of exoplanetary systems with an accuracy better than 10\% for a G0V star of {\it V} = 10 mag, i.e. a nearby Sun-like star. This is presently not within reach for large populations of dwarfs and subgiants in the Milky Way as it requires the models of their stellar interiors to be improved. We discuss how this ambitious age requirement led to the selection of tens of thousands of red giants, and of thousands of main-sequence early F-type gravity-mode pulsators in order to deduce their internal rotation profile across stellar evolution. This asteroseismic observable will then be imported as key information into improved models of dwarfs and subgiants in the Milky Way as optimal modelling tools for ever better age-dating of the exoplanet hosts as the PLATO mission moves along. Additional calibrators and validators included in the {\tt scvPIC} are a few thousands of binaries, a few hundreds of legacy and benchmark stars, a few hundred photometrically stable stars, and six transiting brown dwarfs.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2026

Isochrone-cloud fitting and asteroseismology of the Kepler open cluster NGC6866

We investigate how isochrones computed with different input physics and initial conditions affect the age dating of the open cluster NGC 6866, and compare the results with asteroseismic ages derived from Kepler photometry. Using Gaia DR3 data, we identified 180 cluster members with a clustering algorithm. We then developed an isochrone-cloud fitting method that accounts for a range of free parameters in the input physics. Variable stars were subsequently identified among the cluster members. For 19 g-mode pulsators, we carried out modelling with a dedicated grid of rotating stellar models, constrained by spectroscopic and photometric parameters, the asymptotic gravity-mode period spacing, and the near-core rotation rate. We considered two cases: modelling each pulsator individually and modelling them under the assumption of a common cluster age. PARSEC and MIST isochrones yield discrepant ages of 690 and 467 Myr, respectively. The isochrone-cloud fit indicates an initial critical rotation distribution peaking at 0.6, about a factor of two higher than inferred from asteroseismology. The seismic modelling shows agreement between seismic and isochronal masses, but substantial differences in the derived ages due to differences in internal mixing. When the g-mode pulsators are modelled with a shared cluster age, we obtain 759 Myr, consistent with the PARSEC isochronal age. We conclude that age dating of open clusters is sensitive to the adopted input physics and initial conditions, highlighting the need for better calibrated stellar evolutionary models.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2026

Twists in the flow: revisiting convective mixing in rotating stellar models. I. Effect on the stellar structure

Convection and rotation are both key processes in stellar evolution modelling. While standard mixing-length theory (MLT) provides a widely used modelling of convection, it neglects the effects of rotation on convective transport. We investigate how rotating mixing-length theory (R-MLT), which accounts for the influence of rotation on convection, affects the internal structure, convective mixing, and angular momentum transport in stellar models in comparison to the standard non-rotating MLT. Using the MESA stellar structure and evolution software, we model the main-sequence evolution of a 5 M$_{\odot}$ star, for three cases: non-rotating, rotating with standard MLT for modelling convection, and rotating with R-MLT in convection zones, with the initial rotation rate set to 20 percent of the critical (Keplerian) value at the surface for the rotating models. We find that R-MLT reduces both the convective velocity and mixing length in the stellar core, leading to a smaller convective diffusion coefficient and about 20 percent reduction in the extent of the convective overshooting region. While the overall size of the convective core remains nearly unchanged, R-MLT changes the resulting chemical gradient at the core-envelope boundary, shifting the peak of the Brunt-V\"ais\"al\"a frequency and modifying the angular momentum transport in that region. Including the effects of rotation in the treatment of convection through R-MLT introduces measurable structural and transport differences, underscoring the importance of incorporating rotation-convection coupling in models of stars.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2025

Exploiting tidal asteroseismology in binary populations from combined space photometry and time-resolved high-resolution spectroscopy

Space-based photometry has substantially increased the number of pulsating stars found in binary systems by more than four orders of magnitude. Combined with high-resolution spectroscopy, high-precision photometry offers model-independent constraints on stellar parameters and internal processes. The advent of space-based photometric surveys has given us access to populations of tidally perturbed pulsators, which offer a unique and demanding set of constraints on tidal physics and stellar interiors. However, we lack the ability to undertake multi-epoch, high-resolution spectroscopy at large scale. The ability to obtain phase-resolved, high-resolution spectra would allow us to place precise, model-independent constraints on the stellar properties of pulsators in binary systems that will truly test our close binary asteroseismic modelling techniques, leading to much-needed constraints on fundamental stellar and binary physics. The need to properly cover the large parameter-space of binary stars demands a large-scale, population-level analysis in order to understand the complex landscape of binary stellar evolution. To enable this population-level analysis, we need a dedicated multi-fibre spectrograph (30--200 fibres) with high spectral resolution ($R\geq 50000$), high signal-to-noise ratio ($\mathrm{S/N\geq 300}$), and a limiting magnitude of approximately 15. Such a spectrograph would be capable of efficiently resolving the pulsation variability on the order of minutes and orbit motion on the order of days to years for many targets.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

Beyond prewhitening: detection of gravity modes and their period spacings in slowly pulsating B stars using the multitaper F-test

Gravity modes in main-sequence stars have traditionally been studied using a prewhitening approach, which iteratively identifies modes in the Fourier domain and subsequently tunes their frequencies, amplitudes, and phases through time-domain regression. While effective, this method becomes inefficient when analysing large volumes of long time-series data and often relies on subjective stopping criteria to determine the number of iterations. We aim to perform frequency extraction of gravity modes in slowly pulsating B (SPB) stars using a statistically robust, data-driven approach based on advanced power spectrum and harmonic analysis techniques. Our approach employs the multitaper non-uniform fast Fourier transform, mtNUFFT, a power spectrum estimator that addresses several statistical limitations of traditional methods such as the Lomb-Scargle periodogram. We apply its extension, the multitaper F-test, to extract coherent gravity modes from 4-year Kepler light curves of SPB stars and to search for period spacing patterns among the extracted modes. The multitaper F-test enables fast and accurate extraction of the properties of gravity modes with quasi-infinite lifetimes, preferentially selecting modes that exhibit purely periodic behaviour. Although the method typically extracts fewer frequencies than conventional prewhitening, it recovers most known modes and, in some cases, reveals new ones. We also find evidence for gravity modes with long but finite lifetimes, and detect more than one period spacing pattern in some of the studied SPB stars. Overall, the multitaper F-test offers a more objective and statistically sound alternative to prewhitening. It scales efficiently to large datasets containing thousands of pulsators, and has the potential to facilitate mode identification and to distinguish between the different excitation mechanisms operating in SPB stars.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2025

Inferring main-sequence stage and buoyancy-glitch amplitudes from Fourier spectra of gravity-mode period spacings: Ensemble Analysis of 26 Slowly Pulsating B Stars

Gravito-inertial-mode asteroseismology of intermediate-mass main-sequence stars took off with the 5-month uninterrupted light curves of the CoRoT space mission. It was developed in detail from the 4-year-long Kepler light curves, which provided a practical means to measure the rotation frequency in the transition layer between the convective core and the radiative envelope, where the local buoyancy frequency reaches a maximum. Recently, a new buoyancy glitch inversion method based on the Fourier spectra of gravity-mode period spacings was developed to probe that region further (Guo 2025). We aim to exploit the information contained in the variability of gravity-mode period spacings ($\Delta P$) in Slowly Pulsating B (SPB) stars with rotation. We investigate how well the main-sequence evolutionary stage can be inferred from this variability. We extract the frequency and amplitude of the variability in $\Delta P$ from the Fourier spectrum (FT). Both the period spacing $\Delta P$ and its periodic perturbations $\delta P$ (deviations from their asymptotic values) are used. The measured dominant frequency of $\Delta P$ allows us to infer the central hydrogen mass fraction, $X_c$, which is a main-sequence age indicator. The inferred $X_c$ values from $FT(\Delta P)$ mostly agree with previous results reported in the literature based on forward modelling of individual identified mode frequencies. We find that the buoyancy glitches $\delta N/N$ in SPB stars are generally less than $2\%$ in amplitude. Ensemble asteroseismic modeling of gravity-mode pulsators can now be carried out efficiently with our novel $FT(\Delta P)$ method once the internal rotation rate of the pulsators is known. Our methodology offers a fast method for gravito-inertial asteroseismic applications in the era of ongoing and future space-based observations.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2025

Asteroseismic detection of an internal magnetic field in the B0.5V pulsator HD 192575

Internal magnetic fields are an elusive component of stellar structure. However, they can play an important role in stellar structure and evolution models through efficient angular momentum transport and their impact on internal mixing. We strive to explain the 9 components of one frequency multiplet, identified as a low-order quadrupole gravity mode detected in the light curve of the beta Cep pulsator HD 192575 assembled by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). We update the frequencies of the quadrupole mode under investigation using a standard prewhitening method applied to the 1951.46 d TESS light curve, showing that an internal magnetic field is required to simultaneously explain all 9 components. We implement theoretical pulsation computations applicable to the low-order modes of a beta Cep pulsator including the Coriolis force, as well as a magnetic field that is misaligned with respect to the rotation axis. We apply the theoretical description to perform asteroseismic modelling of the amplitudes and frequencies in the multiplet of the quadrupole g-mode of this evolved beta Cep star. Pulsation predictions based on the measured internal rotation frequency of the star cannot explain the observed 9-component frequency splittings of the quadrupole low-order gravity mode. By contrast, we show that the combined effect of the Coriolis force caused by the near-core rotation with a period of about 5.3 d and the Lorentz force due to an internal inclined magnetic field with a maximum strength of around 24 kG does provide a proper explanation of the 9 multiplet frequencies and their relative amplitudes. Given the stellar mass of about 12 solar masses, this work presents the detection and magneto-gravito-asteroseismic modelling of a stable internal magnetic field buried inside an evolved rotating supernova progenitor.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2025

Automated all-sky detection of {\gamma} Doradus / {\delta} Scuti hybrids in TESS data from positive unlabelled (PU) learning

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission has observed hundreds of millions of stars, substantially contributing to the available pool of high-precision photometric space data. Among them are the relatively rare $\gamma$ Doradus / $\delta$ Scuti ($\gamma$ Dor / $\delta$ Sct) hybrid pulsators, which have been previously studied using Kepler data. These stars are perfect laboratories to probe both inner and outer interior stellar layers thanks to them exhibiting both pressure and gravity modes. We seek to classify an all-sky sample of AF stars observed by TESS to find previously undiscovered hybrid pulsators and supply them in a catalogue of candidates. We also aim to compare the light curves produced with the TESS-Gaia Light Curve (TGLC) pipeline, currently underused in variability studies, with other publicly available light curves. We compared dominant and secondary frequencies of confirmed hybrid pulsators in Kepler, extended mission Quick Look Pipeline (QLP) data, and nominal and extended mission TGLC data. We then used a feature-based positive unlabelled (PU) learning classifier to search for new hybrid pulsators amongst TESS AF stars and investigated the properties of the detected populations. We find that the variability of confirmed hybrids in TGLC agrees well with the one occurring in QLP light curves and has a high recovery rate of \kepler-extracted frequencies. Our `smart binning' method allows for robust extraction of hybrids from large unlabelled datasets, with an average out-of-bag prediction for test set hybrids at 93.04\%. The analysis of dominant frequencies in high-probability candidates shows that we find more pressure-mode dominant hybrids. Our catalogue includes 62,026 new candidate light curves from the nominal and extended TESS missions, with individual probabilities of being a hybrid in each available sector.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2025

Distributions and evolution of the equatorial rotation velocities of 2937 BAF-type main-sequence stars from asteroseismology

Studies of the rotational velocities of intermediate-mass main-sequence stars are crucial for testing stellar evolution theory. They often rely on spectroscopic measurements of the projected rotation velocities. These not only suffer from the unknown projection factor but tend to ignore additional line-profile broadening mechanisms aside from rotation, such as pulsations and turbulent motions near the stellar surface. This limits the accuracy of Veq distributions. We use asteroseismic measurements to investigate the distribution of the equatorial rotation velocity, its ratio with respect to the critical rotation velocity, and the specific angular momentum for several thousands of BAF-type stars, covering a mass range from 1.3M$_\odot$ to 8.8M$_\odot$ and almost the entire core-hydrogen burning phase. We rely on high-precision model-independent internal rotation frequencies, as well as on masses and radii from asteroseismology to deduce Veq, Veq/Vcrit, and J/M for 2937 gravity-mode pulsators in the Milky Way. The sample stars have rotation frequencies between almost zero and 33$\mu$Hz, corresponding to rotation periods above 0.35d. We find that intermediate-mass stars experience a break in their J/M occurring in the mass interval $[2.3,2.7]\,$M$_\odot$. We establish unimodal Veq and Veq/Vcrit distributions for the mass range $[1.3,2.5[$M$_\odot$, while stars with $M\in[2.5,8.8]$M$_\odot$ reveal some structure in their distributions. We find that the near-core rotation slows down as stars evolve, pointing to very efficient angular momentum transport. The kernel density estimators of the asteroseismic internal rotation frequency, equatorial rotation velocity, and specific angular momentum of this large sample of intermediate-mass field stars can conveniently be used for population synthesis studies and to fine-tune the theory of stellar rotation across the main sequence evolution.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2025

Populations of tidal and pulsating variables in eclipsing binaries

In this work, we seek to characterise a large sample of 14377 main sequence eclipsing binaries in terms of their stellar, asteroseismic, and orbital properties. We conduct manual vetting on a 4000-target subset of our full 14377-target sample to identify targets with pressure or gravity modes. We infer stellar properties including the mass, convective core mass, radius, and central H fraction for the primary using Gaia Data Release 3 effective temperature and luminosity estimates and a grid of asteroseismically calibrated stellar models. We use surface brightness ratio and radius ratio estimates from previous eclipse analysis to study the effect of binarity on our results. Our manual vetting identifies 751 candidate g-mode pulsators, 131 p-mode pulsators, and a further 48 hybrid pulsators. The inferred stellar properties of the hybrid and p-mode pulsators are highly correlated, while the orbital properties of the hybrid pulsators align best with the g-mode pulsators. The g-mode pulsators themselves show a distribution that peaks around the classical g dor instability region but extends continuously towards higher masses, with no detectable divide between the classical g dor and SPB instability regions. There is evidence at the population level for a heightened level of tidal efficiency in stars showing g-mode or hybrid variability. Correcting the primary mass inference for binarity based on eclipse measurements of the surface brightness and radius ratios results in a relatively small shift towards lower masses. This work provides a working initial characterisation of this sample from which more detailed analyses folding in asteroseismic information can be built. It also provides a foundational understanding of the limitations and capabilities of this kind of rapid, scalable analysis that will be highly relevant in planning the exploitation of future large-scale binary surveys.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2025

Asteroseismology of the young open cluster NGC 2516 II. Constraining cluster age using gravity-mode pulsators

Although asteroseismology is regarded as the most powerful tool for probing stellar interiors, seismic modelling remains dependent on global stellar parameters. Stellar clusters offer direct measurements of these parameters by fitting a CMD, making the application of asteroseismology in clusters a valuable approach to advancing stellar physics modelling. We aimed to develop seismic modelling for gravity-mode pulsators in the open cluster NGC 2516 to determine stellar ages. We computed 1D stellar models using MESA, incorporating rotation-induced transport processes. Exponential overshooting was included, as well as rotationally induced mixing in the radiative envelope. Grids of evolutionary models were computed covering isochrone-derived mass ranges. The models were evolved up to 300 Myr because of the cluster's young age (~100Myr). By fitting the frequencies of identified modes of four gravity-mode member pulsators simultaneously, we measure the seismic age of the cluster NGC 2516 as 132+-8Myr. This high-precision seismic age estimate deviates by 1sigma from the isochronal age derived from public MIST isochrones for rotating stars. Our findings show that seismic modelling strongly constrains core overshooting, but because the period spacing patterns are smooth, it provides weak constraints on mixing in the radiative envelopes. The two most massive gravity-mode pulsators have MIST masses ~2.0M_sun while their seismic masses are 1.75M_sun. We constructed new asteroseismology-calibrated isochrones using input physics identical to that of our seismic model grid. While this resolves the age discrepancy, the mass discrepancy is only partially addressed. The remaining small yet persisting mass discrepancy implies a mismatch between the physics in core to surface environments of 1D stellar models and the seismic observables probing those areas of fast-rotating stars.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2025

Mixing due to internal gravity waves can explain the CNO surface abundances of B-type detached eclipsing binaries and single stars

Observations of double-lined spectroscopic eclipsing binaries are ideal to study stellar evolution. They have tight model-independent constraints on their masses and radii. With the addition of spectroscopically determined effective temperatures and surface abundances, they can be used to calibrate and improve models. Here we determine whether the observed trends of surface nitrogen abundance in single and binary stars can be explained by wave-induced mixing occurring in the stellar envelope. We use MESA to run the simulations. We compare the outcome of the models to observations of the surface nitrogen abundance for samples of detached eclipsing binary systems and of single B-type stars. From this we determine the amount of wave-induced mixing required to bring the model predictions in agreement with the observations. We find nitrogen to be enriched at the surface of theoretical models with wave-induced mixing provided that we use levels above log(Denv)=5-6 at the convective core boundary. A prominent observation is that the B-type components of detached eclipsing binaries do not show any nitrogen surface enhancement, which can be explained by their relatively fast rotation enforced by the tidal forces in the systems. The slowly rotating or evolved stars among the sample of single B stars do reveal a nitrogen enhancement. Our findings on the difference between single B stars and B-type components of detached binary systems can potentially be explained by internal wave-induced mixing profiles based on recent 2-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of rotating B stars. Such wave-induced mixing decreases with increasing rotation and may act in combination with additional rotational mixing. Our findings motivate future asteroseismic studies in samples of single B stars and pulsating eclipsing binaries with B-type components as optimal laboratories to further test our interpretations.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2025

Observational mapping of the mass discrepancy in eclipsing binaries. A new self-contained framework for concurrent analysis of photometric and spectroscopic time series

The mass discrepancy problem, observed in high-mass stars within eclipsing binaries, highlights systematic differences between dynamical and evolutionary mass estimates, challenging the accuracy of stellar evolution models. We aim to determine whether analysis methods directly contribute to this discrepancy and to assess how methodological improvements might reduce or clarify it. To address this, we developed a new self-contained framework that simultaneously models the photometric and spectroscopic data, minimising biases introduced by traditional iterative approaches and enabling consistent parameter optimisation. We present this framework alongside validation tests on synthetic data and demonstrate its application to three well-studied observed binaries, including one system known for its pronounced mass discrepancy. The framework recovers multiple viable solutions from distinct local minima, including one that reduces the mass discrepancy. These results illustrate how methodological biases, rather than evolutionary model assumptions, can contribute to the mass discrepancy problem. We further highlight that external constraints, such as independent distance estimates or evolutionary models, may be necessary to distinguish between degenerate solutions. Expanding this analysis to a larger sample will provide a more complete understanding, with forthcoming results in the next paper in this series.

astro-ph.SR↗