Population synthesis of planetary nebulae from binaries

Abstract

AbstractThere is at present no viable theory whereby a single star with MMS < 2.3 ± 0.3 M⊙ can sustain a PN-forming superwind with Ṁ > 3×10−5 M⊙ yr−1 at the tip of the AGB that can eject the last ~0.3 M⊙ of envelope mass. We propose that a binary companion can not only result in non-spherical PN, but more importantly provide the AGB mass loss rate enhancement that is required to create a visible PN. We provide an overview of our binary population synthesis calculations of the PN formation rates from common envelope (CE) interactions, CE mergers with substellar companions, tidally synchronized systems that avoid CE, gravitationally focused winds, and double degenerate systems. The predicted number of Galactic PN with radii < 0.9 pc shaped and created by a binary companion is 8,100±2,300 which is (71±20)% of the observationally-estimated total. We demonstrate that the observed close central star of PN binary fraction of 15–20% is consistent with our overall binary fraction, considering we predict two binary populations with period distributions centred at log P(days) ~0 and 4. Finally, we discuss the impact of binarity on the PN luminosity function, central star mass distribution, chemical abundances, morphologies, etc., and why these distributions predicted in the binary scenario are close to observations while the single star paradigm produces distributions which are measurably discrepant.