arXiv subjects

Lin-Feng Chang

Publications and source records attributed to Lin-Feng Chang.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Orbital and Pulsation Analysis of 42 Heartbeat Stars Discovered in TESS Data

Heartbeat stars (HBSs) are ideal laboratories for studying the formation and evolution of binary stars in eccentric orbits and their mutual tidal interactions. We present 42 new HBSs discovered based on TESS-SPOC and QLP data. Their physical parameters have been obtained through modeling with appropriate models. Subsequently, Tidally excited oscillations (TEOs) are detected in ten systems, and their pulsation phases and modes are identified. Most pulsation phases can be explained by the dominant being spherical harmonic degree $l=2$ and azimuthal order $m=0$ or $\pm2$. For TIC 156846634, the harmonic with large deviation ($>3\sigma$) from the expected adiabatic phase can be expected to be a traveling wave or significantly nonadiabatic. The harmonic numbers $n$ = 16 in TIC 184413651 may not be considered as a TEO candidate due to its large deviation ($>2\sigma$) from the adiabatic expectation. Moreover, TIC 92828790 shows no TEOs but exhibits a significant $\gamma$\,Dor-type pulsation. The eccentricity-period ($e-P$) relation also shows a positive correlation between eccentricity and period, as well as the existence of orbital circularization. The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram shows that TESS HBSs have higher temperatures and greater luminosities than Kepler HBSs, possibly due to selection effects. This significantly enhances the detectability of massive HBSs and those containing TEOs.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2025

Heartbeat Stars Recognition Based on Recurrent Neural Networks: Method and Validation

Since the variety of their light curve morphologies, the vast majority of the known heartbeat stars (HBSs) have been discovered by manual inspection. Machine learning, which has already been successfully applied to the classification of variable stars based on light curves, offers another possibility for the automatic detection of HBSs. We propose a novel feature extraction approach for HBSs. First, the orbital frequencies are calculated automatically according to the Fourier spectra of the light curves. Then, the amplitudes of the first 100 harmonics are extracted. Finally, these harmonics are normalized as feature vectors of the light curve. A training data set of synthetic light curves is constructed using ELLC, and their features are fed into recurrent neural networks (RNNs) for supervised learning, with the expected output being the eccentricity of these light curves. The performance of the RNNs is evaluated using a test data set of synthetic light curves, achieving 95$\%$ accuracy. When applied to known HBSs from the OGLE, Kepler, and TESS surveys, the networks achieve an average accuracy of 86$\%$. This method successfully identifies four new HBSs within the eclipsing binary catalog of Kirk et al. The use of orbital harmonics as features for HBSs proves to be a practical approach that significantly reduces the computational cost of neural networks. RNNs show excellent performance in recognizing this type of time series data. This method not only allows efficient identification of HBSs but can also be extended to recognize other types of periodic variable stars.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2024

Evolutionary states and triplicity of four massive semi-detached binaries with long-term decreasing orbital periods in the LMC

The massive semi-detached binary with a long-term decreasing orbital period may involve a rapid mass-transfer phase in Case A, and thus they are good astrophysical laboratories for investigating the evolution of massive binary stars. In this work, by using the long-term observational light curves from the OGLE project and other data in the low-metallicity LMC, four semi-detached massive binaries with long-term decreases in the orbital periods are detected from 165 EB-type close binaries. It is found that the more massive component in S07798 is filling its Roche lobe where the period decrease is caused by mass transfer from the primary to the secondary. However, the other three (S03065, S12631, S16873) are semi-detached binaries with a lobe-filling secondary where the mass transfer between the components should cause the period to increase if the angular momentum is conservative. The long-term period decreases in these three systems may be caused by the angular momentum loss. Additionally, the orbital periods of three systems (S03065, S07798, S16873) are detected to show cyclic variation with periods shorter than 11 years, which can be plausibly explained by the presence of close-in third bodies in these massive binaries. Based on all of these results, it is suggested that the detected four semi-detached binaries almost have multiplicity. The companion stars are crucial for the origin and evolution of these massive close binaries.

astro-ph.SR↗