Analysis of seven low-mass eclipsing binaries discovered by the Kepler mission

Abstract

ABSTRACT The discrepancy between the observed and the predicted radii in low-mass stars is a well-known and yet to be resolved problem. Although various theoretical approaches have been developed since the first appearance of the problem, there is still no satisfactory mechanism or model which could successfully reproduce observed radii. The stellar magnetic field is among proposed resolutions but has not been investigated comprehensively for detached eclipsing binary stars. In this study, we present analysis of seven low-mass Kepler eclipsing binaries, KIC 4484356, KIC 4678171, KIC 5300878, KIC 6147573, KIC 8543278, KIC 9762519, and KIC 9821078. We investigate the average amplitude of the rotational modulation signal observed at out-of-eclipse phases, which could be used as the proxy for the strength of the stellar magnetic field, and possible discrepancies between observed and theoretically calculated radii of the components of the target systems. Our findings indicate radius discrepancy for both components of KIC 4678171 and KIC 9821078. Moreover, secondary components of KIC 9762519 and KIC 8543278 appear to have quite inflated radii. However, results from this limited sample do not indicate any correlation between average amplitude of the rotation modulation signal and observed radius discrepancies.