Eclipsing Systems with Pulsating Components (Types β Cep, δ Sct, γ Dor or Red Giant) in the Era of High-Accuracy Space Data

Eclipsing systems are essential objects for understanding the properties of stars and stellar systems. Eclipsing systems with pulsating components are furthermore advantageous because they provide accurate constraints on the component properties, as well as a complementary method for pulsation mode determination, crucial for precise asteroseismology. The outcome of space missions aiming at delivering high-accuracy light curves for many thousands of stars in search of planetary systems has also generated new insights in the field of variable stars and revived the interest of binary systems in general. The detection of eclipsing systems with pulsating components has particularly benefitted from this, and progress in this field is growing fast. In this review, we showcase some of the recent results obtained from studies of eclipsing systems with pulsating components based on data acquired by the space missions Kepler or TESS. We consider different system configurations including semi-detached eclipsing binaries in (near-)circular orbits, a (near-)circular and non-synchronized eclipsing binary with a chemically peculiar component, eclipsing binaries showing the heartbeat phenomenon, as well as detached, eccentric double-lined systems. All display one or more pulsating component(s). Among the great variety of known classes of pulsating stars, we discuss unevolved or slightly evolved pulsators of spectral type B, A or F and red giants with solar-like oscillations. Some systems exhibit additional phenomena such as tidal effects, angular momentum transfer, (occasional) mass transfer between the components and/or magnetic activity. How these phenomena and the orbital changes affect the different types of pulsations excited in one or more components, offers a new window of opportunity to better understand the physics of pulsations.

Automated summary

Eclipsing systems with pulsating components are important for understanding star properties, providing accurate constraints on their properties and offering a complementary method for pulsation mode determination. Space missions providing high-accuracy light curves for thousands of stars have advanced variable star research and renewed interest in binary systems. The discovery of eclipsing systems with pulsating components has been particularly accelerated, leading to rapid progress in the field.