Orbital Evolution of Algol Binaries with a Circumbinary Disk

Details Orbital Evolution of Algol Binaries with a Circumbinary Disk Orbital Evolution of Algol Binaries with a Circumbinary Disk

2006-06-05

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0606081v2

Astrophys.J.649:973-978,2006

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

9 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Scientific paper

10.1086/506433

It is generally thought that conservative mass transfer in Algol binaries causes their orbits to be wider, in which the less massive star overflows its Roche-lobe. The observed decrease in the orbital periods of some Algol binaries suggests orbital angular momentum loss during the binary evolution, and the magnetic braking mechanism is often invoked to explain the observed orbital shrinkage. Here we suggest an alternative explanation, assuming that a small fraction of the transferred mass forms a circumbinary disk, which extracts orbital angular momentum from the binary through tidal torques. We also perform numerical calculations of the evolution of Algol binaries with typical initial masses and orbital periods. The results indicate that, for reasonable input parameters, the circumbinary disk can significantly influence the orbital evolution, and cause the orbit to shrink on a sufficiently long timescale. Rapid mass transfer in Algol binaries with low mass ratios can also be accounted for in this scenario.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Orbital Evolution of Algol Binaries with a Circumbinary Disk does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Orbital Evolution of Algol Binaries with a Circumbinary Disk, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Orbital Evolution of Algol Binaries with a Circumbinary Disk will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-541700