Planet-mediated precision reconstruction of the evolution of the cataclysmic variable HU Aquarii

Cataclysmic variables (CVs) are binaries in which a compact white dwarf accretes material from a low-mass companion star. The discovery of two planets in orbit around the CV HU Aquarii (HU Aqr) opens unusual opportunities for understanding the formation and evolution of this system. In particular, the orbital parameters of the planets constrain the past and enable us to reconstruct the evolution of the system through the common-envelope phase. During this dramatic event, the entire hydrogen envelope of the primary star is ejected, passing the two planets on the way. The observed eccentricities and orbital separations of the planets in HU Aqr enable us to limit the common-envelope parameter alpha beta = 0.45 +/- 0.17 or gamma = 1.77 +/- 0.02 and measure the rate at which the common envelope is ejected, which turns out to be copious. The mass in the common envelope is ejected from the binary system at a rate of (m) over dot = 1.9 +/- 0.3M(circle dot) yr(-1). The reconstruction of the initial conditions for HU Aqr indicates that the primary star had a mass of M-ZAMS = 1.6 +/- 0.2 M-circle dot and a m(ZAMS) = 0.47 +/- 0.04 M-circle dot companion in a a = 25-160 R-circle dot (best value a = 97 R-circle dot) binary. The two planets were born with an orbital separation of a(a) = 541 +/- 44 R-circle dot and ab = 750 +/- 72 R-circle dot, respectively. After the common envelope, the primary star turns into a 0.52 +/- 0.01 M-circle dot helium white dwarf, which subsequently accretes similar to 0.30M(circle dot) from its Roche lobe filling companion star, grinding it down to its current observed mass of 0.18M(circle dot).