The Companion Mass Distribution of Post Common Envelope Hot Subdwarf Binaries: Evidence for Boosted and Disrupted Magnetic Braking?

Abstract We measure the mass distribution of main-sequence (MS) companions to hot subdwarf B stars (sdBs) in post-common envelope binaries (PCEBs). We carried out a spectroscopic survey of 14 eclipsing systems (“HW Vir binaries”) with orbital periods of 3.8 < P orb < 12 hr, resulting in a well-understood selection function and a near-complete sample of HW Vir binaries with G < 16. We constrain companion masses from the radial velocity curves of the sdB stars. The companion mass distribution peaks at M MS ≈ 0.15 M ⊙ and drops off at M MS > 0.2 M ⊙ , with only two systems hosting companions above the fully convective limit. There is no correlation between P orb and M MS within the sample. A similar drop-off in the companion mass distribution of white dwarf (WD) + MS PCEBs has been attributed to disrupted magnetic braking (MB) below the fully convective limit. We compare the sdB companion mass distribution to predictions of binary evolution simulations with a range of MB laws. Because sdBs have short lifetimes compared to WDs, explaining the lack of higher-mass MS companions to sdBs with disrupted MB requires MB to be boosted by a factor of 20–100 relative to MB laws inferred from the rotation evolution of single stars. We speculate that such boosting may be a result of irradiation-driven enhancement of the MS stars’ winds. An alternative possibility is that common envelope evolution favors low-mass companions in short-period orbits, but the existence of massive WD companions to sdBs with similar periods disfavors this scenario.