Theoretical studies of advanced stages of stellar evolution indicate that there is a nearly unique functional relationship between the radius of a giant and the mass of its core. A single-valued, continuous, and smooth relationship can be fitted both to stars on the first red giant branch and to asymptotic giant-branch stars, with total masses up to ≡2 M_sun;. The authors note that the measurable properties of systems containing degenerate dwarfs can be used as a direct test of this core mass-radius relation if the final stages of the loss of the envelope of the progenitor giant occurred via stable critical lobe overflow. Once critical lobe overflow has ceased and the remnant core of the giant has become a degenerate dwarf, the system parameters no longer change significantly. The examination of six diverse binaries shows that such a process probably took place in five of them.
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Joss et al. (1987) studied this question.