Hydrodynamic simulation of a white dwarf-main-sequence star collision in a globular cluster core

Statistics – Computation

Scientific paper

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Collisions, Globular Clusters, Hydrodynamic Equations, Main Sequence Stars, Stellar Evolution, White Dwarf Stars, Celestial Mechanics, Computational Astrophysics, Nuclear Reactions, Red Giant Stars, Stellar Mass Ejection

Scientific paper

Several hundred physical collisions occur in the core of a typical globular cluster during a Hubble time. The most common types of collision involve stars of large cross section (giants) and/or very common stars (main- sequence and degenerate dwarfs). Any collision with a red giant is likely to disperse that star's envelope and leave it as an ordinary white dwarf. Two colliding main-sequence stars (MSS) are likely to coalesce and may appear as He-rich blue stragglers. Colliding MS and degenerate stars have been predicted to form "massive disks" around the degenerate stars. We have carried out a two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation (including the effects of nuclear reactions) of a white dwarf-MSS head-on collision (with collision parameters appropriate to the core of a globular cluster). Accretion onto the white dwarf is rapidly followed by dynamical expansion of the MSS, powered by nuclear reactions' heating and redistribution of the MSS kinetic energy. Most or all of the MSS is disrupted during the simulated collision, which liberates more than 1048 ergs of nuclear energy (i.e., the MSS binding energy) in ˜ 1000 s. The angular momentum in a collision with impact parameter comparable to RMSS may prevent this fate and permit heavy disks to form. The effects of nuclear reactions' heating must be included in future studies (hopefully including three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations) to lend more credence to the massive disk hypothesis.

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