Consequences of Hipparcos parallaxes for stellar evolutionary models. Three Hyades binaries: V818 Tauri, 51 Tauri, and θ² Tauri

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Three binary systems in the Hyades open cluster (51 Tau, V818 Tau, and θ² Tau, with known metallicity and good Johnson photometric data are used to test the validity of three independent sets of stellar evolutionary tracks. A statistical method is described and applied to the colour-magnitude diagram of the six selected components, giving rise to χ²-contours in the metallicity--age plane. The effects of the Hipparcos parallaxes on these confidence regions are studied in detail for these binaries through a comparison with very accurate but older orbital parallaxes. There are no significant differences in 51 Tau and θ² Tau, and hence the test validates the sets of theoretical tracks used. However the orbital parallax of V818 Tau leads to metallicities too large in comparison with the observed range, while the Hipparcos parallax give consistent results, at the 1σ level. Comparisons between the predicted and measured masses are also made and show a good agreement. However, even if the Padova tracks predict correct masses for each component of V818 Tau, there is no Padova track that fits both components simultaneously in the mass-radius diagram. Finally, since the individual masses of these binaries are accurately known, some issues about the influence of the Hipparcos parallaxes on their location in the mass-luminosity diagram are also discussed.