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arXiv · 1903.12185

Companion-driven evolution of massive stellar binaries

Sanaea C. Rose·Smadar Naoz·Aaron M. Geller
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Abstract

At least $70\%$ of massive OBA-type stars reside in binary or higher-order systems. The dynamical evolution of these systems can lend insight into the origins of extreme phenomena such as X-ray binaries and gravitational wave sources. In one such dynamical process, the Eccentric Kozai-Lidov (EKL) Mechanism, a third companion star alters the secular evolution of a binary system. For dynamical stability, these triple systems must have a hierarchical configuration. We explore the effects of a distant third companion's gravitational perturbations on a massive binary's orbital configuration before significant stellar evolution has taken place ($\leq 10$ Myr). We include tidal dissipation and general relativistic precession. With large ($38,000$ total) Monte-Carlo realizations of massive hierarchical triples, we characterize imprints of the birth conditions on the final orbital distributions. Specifically, we find that the final eccentricity distribution over the range $0.1-0.7$ is an excellent indicator of its birth distribution. Furthermore, we find that the period distributions have a similar mapping for wide orbits. Finally, we demonstrate that the observed period distribution for approximately $10$ Myr-old massive stars is consistent with EKL evolution.

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Sanaea C. Rose, Smadar Naoz, Aaron M. Geller. 2019-03-28. Companion-driven evolution of massive stellar binaries. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras%2Fstz1846

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