Binary evolution in stellar dynamics.
Abstract
Numerical experiments have demonstrated something of the importance of binaries in N-body systems, and this paper aims to provide a comprehensive theoretical picture of their behavior. It begins by testing possible 'equilibrium' distributions for binaries against the results of computational experiments, but is mainly concerned with the dynamics of encounters between binaries and other members of the system. Using an impulsive approximation, it is shown that pairs with low binding energies tend to be disrupted by encounters. The theory for energetic pairs is complicated by the considerably richer variety of possible phenomena, including distant encounters in which changes in eccentricity much exceed changes in energy, and exchange events in which an incoming star may replace one component of the binary. The result of all types of encounter is that energetic pairs tend to become more energetic, at an average rate which is approximately independent of their binding energy.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- December 1975
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnras/173.3.729
- Bibcode:
- 1975MNRAS.173..729H
- Keywords:
-
- Binary Stars;
- Many Body Problem;
- Stellar Evolution;
- Equations Of Motion;
- Kinetic Energy;
- Numerical Integration;
- Stellar Motions;
- Astronomy