Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
1998-12-10
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
to be published in MNRAS
Scientific paper
10.1046/j.1365-8711.1999.02623.x
The interaction of a massive binary and a non-self-gravitating circumbinary accretion disc is considered. The shape of the stationary twisted disc produced by the binary is calculated. It is shown that the inner part of the disc must lie in the binary orbital plane for any value of viscosity. When the inner disc midplane is aligned with the binary orbital plane on the scales of interest and it rotates in the same sense as the binary, the modification of the disc structure and the rate of decay of the binary orbit, assumed circular, due to tidal exchange of angular momentum with the disc, are calculated. It is shown that the modified disc structure is well described by a self-similar solution of the non-linear diffusion equation governing the evolution of the disc surface density. The calculated time scale for decay of the binary orbit is always smaller than the "accretion" time $t_{acc}=m/{\dot M}$ ($m$ is the mass of the secondary component, and $\dot M$ is the disc accretion rate), and is determined by ratio of secondary mass $m$, assumed to be much smaller than the primary mass, the disc mass inside the initial binary orbit, and the form of viscosity in the disc.
Ivanov Pavel B.
Papaloizou John C. B.
Polnarev Alexander G.
No associations
LandOfFree
The evolution of a supermassive binary caused by an accretion disc 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 The evolution of a supermassive binary caused by an accretion disc, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The evolution of a supermassive binary caused by an accretion disc will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-157843