Planetary Accretion Is Less Frequent in Wide Binaries: Evidence from Metal-Enriched White Dwarfs in DESI DR1
Abstract
Binary stars are common in the Galaxy, and understanding how stellar binarity influences the formation and evolution of planetary systems is an active area of research. In this study, we use metal-enriched white dwarfs in wide binaries as tracers of long-lived planetary systems. With Data Release 1 from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), we find that the fraction of cool metal-enriched white dwarfs in wide binaries is 9.8\,±\,2.1\%, significantly lower (4.7\,σ) than the 20.5\,±\,0.9\% in a control sample of single systems. Furthermore, we identify a tentative dependence of metal enrichment on projected separation and white dwarf effective temperature, where enrichment fraction decreases at smaller separations and lower temperatures. These findings indicate that, compared to single stars, binary systems either start with smaller initial planetary reservoirs due to suppressed planetesimal formation or undergo more rapid depletion of planetary material during the initial part of the white dwarf stage.
Related
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BibTeX
@misc{xu2026planetary,
title = {{Planetary Accretion Is Less Frequent in Wide Binaries: Evidence from Metal-Enriched White Dwarfs in DESI DR1}},
author = {Siyi Xu and Laura.K Rogers and Joan Najita and Boris T Gänsicke and Paula Izquierdo and Sergey E Koposov and Christopher J Manser and Andrew Swan and Sandford Nathan and Wang Wenting and Jessica Nicole Aguilar and Steven Ahlen and Carlos Allende Prieto and Davide Bianchi and David Brooks and Todd Claybaugh and Axel de la Macorra and Jaime E Forero-Romero and Satya Gontcho A. Gontcho and Gaston Gutierrez and Dick Joyce and Martin Landriau and Laurent Le Guillou and Aaron Meisner and Ramon Miquel and Will Percival and Francisco Prada and Ignasi Pérez-Ràfols and Graziano Rossi and Eusebio Sanchez and David Schlegel and Joseph Harry Silber and Gregory Tarlé and Benjamin Alan Weaver and Rongpu Zhou},
howpublished = {HAL},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.11798},
eprint = {2609.11798},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05841969v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Planetary Accretion Is Less Frequent in Wide Binaries: Evidence from Metal-Enriched White Dwarfs in DESI DR1
AU - Siyi Xu
AU - Laura.K Rogers
AU - Joan Najita
AU - Boris T Gänsicke
AU - Paula Izquierdo
AU - Sergey E Koposov
AU - Christopher J Manser
AU - Andrew Swan
AU - Sandford Nathan
AU - Wang Wenting
AU - Jessica Nicole Aguilar
AU - Steven Ahlen
AU - Carlos Allende Prieto
AU - Davide Bianchi
AU - David Brooks
AU - Todd Claybaugh
AU - Axel de la Macorra
AU - Jaime E Forero-Romero
AU - Satya Gontcho A. Gontcho
AU - Gaston Gutierrez
AU - Dick Joyce
AU - Martin Landriau
AU - Laurent Le Guillou
AU - Aaron Meisner
AU - Ramon Miquel
AU - Will Percival
AU - Francisco Prada
AU - Ignasi Pérez-Ràfols
AU - Graziano Rossi
AU - Eusebio Sanchez
AU - David Schlegel
AU - Joseph Harry Silber
AU - Gregory Tarlé
AU - Benjamin Alan Weaver
AU - Rongpu Zhou
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/10
PB - HAL
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.11798
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05841969v1
AB - Binary stars are common in the Galaxy, and understanding how stellar binarity influences the formation and evolution of planetary systems is an active area of research. In this study, we use metal-enriched white dwarfs in wide binaries as tracers of long-lived planetary systems. With Data Release 1 from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), we find that the fraction of cool metal-enriched white dwarfs in wide binaries is 9.8\,±\,2.1\%, significantly lower (4.7\,σ) than the 20.5\,±\,0.9\% in a control sample of single systems. Furthermore, we identify a tentative dependence of metal enrichment on projected separation and white dwarf effective temperature, where enrichment fraction decreases at smaller separations and lower temperatures. These findings indicate that, compared to single stars, binary systems either start with smaller initial planetary reservoirs due to suppressed planetesimal formation or undergo more rapid depletion of planetary material during the initial part of the white dwarf stage.
ER -