RRab variables with identical light-curve shapes at different pulsation periods

Abstract

In this paper, we report on the detection of RRab stars with quasi-identical-shape light curves but period differences as large as 0.05 − 0.21 d using the Galactic bulge data of the OGLE-IV survey. We have examined stars with shorter periods than the Oosterhoff I ridge of the bulge. These stars generally have smaller amplitudes and larger Fourier phase-differences than the typical bulge RRab stars have at the same period. Many of these ”anomalous” stars have good-quality light curves without any sign of the Blazhko modulation. Examining their Fourier parameters revealed that several of these stars show very similar light-curve to the typical bulge RR Lyrae. We found hundreds of quasi-identical-shape light-curve pairs with different periods between the ”anomalous”- and the ”normal”-position RRab stars based on the OGLE I-band data. The OGLE V-band, and the archive VVV and MACHO surveys Ks-, b- and r-band data of these stars were also checked for light-curve-shape similarity. Finally, 149 pairs with identical-shape light curves in each available photometric band were identified. Calculating the physical properties of the variables using empirical formulae, on average, −0.5 dex, −0.13 mag, 0.67, and 165 K differences between the [Fe/H], MV, R/R⊙, and Teff values of the members of the pairs are derived, being the short-period stars less metal-poor, fainter, smaller and hotter than the long-period variables. To explain the existence of variables with different physical properties and pulsation periods but with identical-shape light curves is a challenging task for modelling.