Contribution of Primordial Binary Evolution to the Two Blue-straggler Sequences in Globular Cluster M30

Abstract

Abstract Two blue-straggler sequences discovered in globular cluster M30 provide a strong constraint on the formation mechanisms of blue stragglers. We study the formation of blue-straggler binaries through binary evolution, and find that binary evolution can contribute to the blue stragglers in both of the sequences. Whether a blue-straggler is located in the blue sequence or red sequence depends on the contribution of the mass donor to the total luminosity of the binary, which is generally observed as a single star in globular clusters. The blue stragglers in the blue sequence have a cool white dwarf companion, while the majority (∼60%) of the objects in the red sequence are binaries that are still experiencing mass transfer. However, there are also some objects for which the donors have just finished the mass transfer (the stripped-core stars, ∼10%) or the blue stragglers (the accretors) have evolved away from the blue sequence (∼30%). Meanwhile, W UMa contact binaries found in both sequences may be explained by various mass ratios, that is, W UMa contact binaries in the red sequence have two components with comparable masses (e.g., mass ratio q ∼ 0.3–1.0), while those in the blue sequence have low mass ratios (e.g., q < 0.3 ). However, the fraction of the blue sequence in M30 cannot be reproduced by binary population synthesis if we assumed the initial parameters of a binary sample to be the same as those of the field. This possibly indicates that dynamical effects on binary systems are very important in globular clusters.