Kepler P<2d close binaries

Most are triples. Analysis of the unbiased sample of 783 0.15d<P<2d (near) contact binaries results in 178 probable contact systems, 114 probable detached systems, and 491 ambiguous systems for which we report best-fitting and 16th-/50th-/84th-percentile parameters. Contact systems are rare at periods P>0.5d, as are systems with q>0.8.

There exists an empirical mass ratio lower limit q_min_(P)~0.05-0.15 below which contact systems are absent, supporting a new set of theoretical predictions obtained by modeling the evolution of contact systems under the constraints of mass and angular momentum conservation. Premerger systems should lie at long periods and near this mass ratio lower limit, which rises from q=0.044 for P=0.74d to q=0.15 at P=2.0d. These findings support a scenario whereby nuclear evolution of the primary (more massive) star drives mass transfer to the primary, thus moving systems toward extreme q and larger P until the onset of the Darwin instability at q_min_ precipitates a merger.