Measuring tides and binary parameters from gravitational wave data and eclipsing timings of detached white dwarf binaries

Understand

The discovery of the most compact detached white dwarf (WD) binary SDSS J065133.33+284423.3 has been discussed in terms of probing the tidal effects in white dwarfs.

• This system is also a verification source for the space-based gravitational wave (GW) detector, evolved Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (eLISA) which will observe short-period compact Galactic binaries with $P_{orb}\lesssim 5$ hrs.
• We address the prospects of doing tidal studies using eLISA binaries by showing the fractional uncertainties in the orbital decay rate and the rate of that decay, $\dot{f}, \ddot{f}$ expected from both the GW and EM data for some of the high-$f$ binaries.
• We find that $\dot{f}$ and $\ddot{f}$ can be measured using GW data only for the most massive WD binaries observed at high-frequencies.