The hot subdwarf B + white dwarf binary KPD 1930+2752

Abstract

Context.The nature of the progenitors of type Ia supernovae is still under debate. KPD 1930+2752 is one of the best SN Ia progenitor candidates known today. The object is a double degenerate system consisting of a subluminous B star (sdB) and a massive white dwarf (WD). Maxted et al. ([CITE]) conclude that the system mass exceeds the Chandrasekhar mass. This conclusion, however, rests on the assumption that the sdB mass is . However, recent binary population synthesis calculations suggest that the mass of an sdB star may range from to more than .