2011A&A...528A..16V

Several authors have previously introduced liberal evolution of interacting binaries, with the purpose of meeting various observed binary characteristics better than with conservative evolution. Since Algols are eclipsing binaries, the distribution of their orbital periods is known precisely. The distribution of their mass ratios contains, however, more uncertainties. We try to reproduce these two distributions theoretically using a liberal scenario in which the gainer star can lose mass into interstellar space as a consequence of its rapid rotation and the energy of a hot spot. In a recent paper we calculated the liberal evolution of binaries with a B-type primary at birth where mass transfer starts during core hydrogen burning of the donor. In this paper we include the cases where mass transfer starts during shell hydrogen burning, and it is our aim to reproduce the observed distributions of the system parameters of Algol-type semidetached systems. Our calculations reveal the amount of time that an Algol binary lives with a well-defined value of mass ratio and orbital period. We used these data to simulate the distribution of mass ratios and orbital periods of Algols. Binaries with a late B-type initial primary hardly lose any mass, whereas those with an early B primary evolve in a nonconservative way. Conservative binary evolution predicts only ∼12% of Algols with a mass ratio q above 0.4. This value is raised up to ∼17% using our scenario of liberal evolution, which is still far below the ∼45% that is observed. Observed orbital periods of Algol binaries longer than one day are faithfully reproduced by our liberal scenario. Mass ratios are reproduced better than with conservative evolution, but the resemblance is still poor.