The Orbital Evolution of Eccentric Interacting Binary Star Systems
Abstract
We provide a comprehensive description of the long-term (secular) orbital evolution of eccentric interacting binary systems. Using a description for the position of the L1 point and the size of the Roche lobe in an asynchronous eccentric binary system, we determine the orbtial trajectory of a particle ejected from periastron in the ballistic limit. We provide a method for determining a priori the end state of that ejected particle, and describe the secular evolution of systems in each of three cases: direct impact of the particle onto the accretor, disk formation about the accretor, or self-accretion of the particle back onto the donor. The orbital evolution timescales found here are comparable to the mass transfer timescale, which can be significantly longer than the evolution expected from the literature. The formalism presented here can be incorporated into binary evolution and population synthesis models to create a self-consistent treatment of mass transfer in eccentric binaries.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #215
- Pub Date:
- January 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010AAS...21538504S