Searching for Contact Binaries with LAMOST and TESS

Abstract

Contact binaries (CBs) serve as fundamental laboratories for studying complex stellar interactions, including mass transfer, tidal effects, and angular momentum loss. In this work, we search for CB with high-precision light curves from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and large radial-velocity variation from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST). We derive a sample of 1,281 CB candidates, among which 266 are newly reported. Our sample with both high-precision photometry and medium-resolution spectra may provide new constraints on the physical scales, luminosity calibration, and population distribution of CBs, offering valuable insights into their evolutionary role within the stellar population.