arXiv subjects

Lile Wang

Publications and source records attributed to Lile Wang.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2025

Dense Molecular Ring-like structure in gaseous CO depletion region G34.74-0.12

We report the discovery of a dense molecular ring-like structure in a dense (10$^5$ cm$^{-3}$), cold (pc-scale CO depletion at a factor of 5), and young (10$^4$ year) star-forming region G34.74-0.12, revealed by C$^{18}$O (2-1), HNC (1-0), and N$_2$H$^+$ (1-0) observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The ring-like structure is redshifted with respect to the clump, spanning from $V_{\rm sys,lsr} + 0.9$ to $V_{\rm sys,lsr} + 2.9$ km s$^{-1}$, with a total mass of 109 $M_{\odot}$. It is spatially coincident with 1.3 mm and 3.0 mm dust continuum emission from cores, and several protostellar outflows. However, no free-free emission or H\textsc{ii} region is detected in association with this structure. With a slow expansion speed indicated by the position-velocity diagram, this ring structure differs from rings previously identified in more evolved star-forming regions. Possible explanations for the ring-like structure include a relic wind-blown bubble produced by a deeply embedded young stellar object, a hollow cavity formed by cloud-cloud interactions, a gas ring resulting from a temperature gradient, or a line-of-sight superposition of multiple outflows or dense clouds. This discovery offers a rare observational glimpse into the earliest dynamical processes involved in massive star formation.

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arXiv2025

AGN star dynamics under the Influence of Outflow-Ambient Interactions

Stars with outflows interacting with ambient gas experience accelerations arising from the gravitational feedback induced by the interaction structure. In this work, three-dimensional (3D) local shearing box simulations are performed to investigate the dynamical evolution of a star with outflows embedded in the outer regions of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) disk. Two types of stellar wind are considered: isotropic winds and axisymmetric jets, along with variations in the radial pressure gradient profile. The results show that anti-friction enables AGN stars to acquire angular momentum from the ambient gas, resulting in outward migration away from the disk center. The formation and stability of the head-wind structure, which is crucial for maintaining anti-friction, are sensitive to both the strength of the stellar outflow and the radial pressure gradient of the disk gas. Once the head-wind structure is disrupted, the anti-friction effect ceases to operate effectively. A case study is also presented, focusing on a stellar-mass black hole (sBH) in an AGN disk. It is shown that jet material launched along the z-axis is confined to the trailing side of the object's motion by high gas inflow velocities, thereby activating anti-friction and inducing outward migration. If such an sBH migrates inward initially, the interplay between inward and outward migration may trap it at an equilibrium radius, potentially facilitating the formation and merger of black hole binaries.

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arXiv2025

The ALMA Survey of 70 $μ$m Dark High-mass Clumps in Early Stages (ASHES). XII. Unanchored Forked Stream in the Propagating Path of a Protostellar Outflow

Outflows are key indicators of ongoing star formation. We report the discovery of an unanchored forked stream within the propagating path of an extremely young protostellar outflow in the 70 $μ$m-dark clump G34.74-0.12, based on ALMA 1.3 mm observations with an angular resolution of 1''.6 (~ 5000 au). This outflow originate from a 9.7 $M_{\odot}$ core, exhibits a fork-shaped stream structure in its red-shifted lobe, which is traced by CO (2-1), SiO (5-4), and H$_2$CO (3$_{0,3}$-2$_{0,2}$). It has a momentum of 13 $M_{\odot}$ km s$^{-1}$, an energy of 107 $M_{\odot}$ km$^{2}$ s$^{-2}$, and a dynamical timescale of ~10$^{4}$ yr. Significantly, the enhanced relative abundances of SiO, H$_2$CO, and CH$_3$OH with respect to CO, along with the increased temperature at the forked point, indicate a collisional origin. The forked point does not coincide with any dust continuum core > 0.1 $M_{\odot}$. Moreover, CO (2-1) emission also traces three other outflows in this region, characterized by their masses (0.40, 0.02 and 0.15 $M_{\odot}$) and momenta (5.2, 0.2, 1.8 $M_{\odot}$ km s$^{-1}$), as part of the ALMA Survey of 70 $μ$m dark High-mass clumps in Early Stages (ASHES) project. All the newly discovered morphological and kinematic features associated with these extremely young protostellar outflows (with timescales of 10$^3$ - 10$^4$ years) suggest that the initial stages of star formation are more complicated than previously understood.

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arXiv2025

Observational Signatures of Disk Winds in Protoplanetary Disks: Differentiating Magnetized and Photoevaporative Outflows With Fully Coupled Thermochemistry

Magnetized winds and photoevaporative winds are critical in shaping protoplanetary disk evolution. Using 2D axisymmetric (magneto-)hydrodynamic simulations with Athena++ implementing fully coupled thermochemistry, we investigate the signatures of the two winds in CO and [C~I] ALMA observations, and examine the potential to distinguish the origins. Our simulations reveal fundamental differences between the two winds: magnetized winds are colder and denser, exhibiting super-Keplerian rotation with small poloidal velocities of $\lesssim 1~{\rm km~s}^{-1}$ in the atmosphere ($z/R\gtrsim0.45$), while photoevaporative winds are hotter and less dense, exhibiting sub-Keplerian rotation with higher poloidal velocity of several ${\rm km~s}^{-1}$. In addition to previously identified factors like thermal pressure gradient and disk's self-gravity, we demonstrate that magnetic tension/pressure and advection significantly influence rotational velocities of the gas in the wind, which lead to emission patterns that are distinct from Keplerian rotation in synthetic ALMA observations. Magnetized winds are visible in CO channel maps when wind loss rates are $\gtrsim10^{-8}~M_\odot~{\rm yr}^{-1}$. When wind loss rates are lower, magnetized winds produce subtle perturbations in channel maps, which resemble the so-called ``velocity kinks'' produced by protoplanets. While photoevaporative winds dissociate CO through strong XUV radiation and thus are weaker in CO, they can create observable ring-like substructures. [C~I] emission is optically thin and could be most effective at detecting both winds in disks with high gas mass and/or high [C~I] abundance. Due to the spatially extended nature of the winds, using a large beam ($\simeq0.4$" for disks in nearby star-forming regions) will be helpful regardless of the tracer used.

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arXiv2025

The H2 Glow of a Quiescent Molecular Cloud Observed with JWST

We report JWST MIRI/MRS observations of the H2 S(1) 17.04 micron transition in two regions in the boundary of the Taurus Molecular Cloud. The two regions, denoted Edge (near the relatively sharp boundary of the 13CO J=1-0 emission) and Peak (the location of the strongest H2 emission observed with Spitzer), have average intensities of 14.5 MJy/sr and 32.1 MJy/sr, respectively. We find small scale structures of characteristic size 1.0 to 2.5 arcseconds, corresponding to 140 AU to 350 AU, with characteristic intensity above the extended background of 10 MJy/sr, corresponding to a J = 3 column density of 1.6x1017/cm2. The most plausible explanation for the observed intensities from level 845 K above the J = 1 ortho-H2 ground state level is excitation by collisions with H2 molecules (the hydrogen in this region being predominantly molecular). Two mechanisms, turbulent dissipation and shocks, have been proposed for heating of localized regions of the ISM to temperatures ~1000 K to explain abundances of and emission from particular molecules. While we cannot determine unique values of density and kinetic temperature, the solutions in best agreement with predictions of shock models are H2 density = 370 /cm3 and kinetic temperature = 1000 K. The total H2 column density of the small-scale structures under these conditions is ~8x1017/cm2. This first direct detection of heated tiny scale structure in the quiescent molecular interstellar medium has significant implications for the physical structure of this phase of the ISM and maintaining supersonic motions within it.

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arXiv2025

The Kratos Framework for Heterogeneous Astrophysical Simulations: Fundamental Infrastructures and Hydrodynamics

The field of astrophysics has long sought computational tools capable of harnessing the power of modern GPUs to simulate the complex dynamics of astrophysical phenomena. The Kratos Framework, a novel GPU-based simulation system designed to leverage heterogeneous computing architectures, is introduced to address these challenges. Kratos offers a flexible and efficient platform for a wide range of astrophysical simulations, by including its device abstraction layer, multiprocessing communication model, and mesh management system that serves as the foundation for the physical module container. Focusing on the hydrodynamics module as an example and foundation for more complex simulations, optimizations and adaptations have been implemented for heterogeneous devices that allows for accurate and fast computations, especially the mixed precision method that maximize its efficiency on consumer-level GPUs while holding the conservation laws to machine accuracy. The performance and accuracy of Kratos are verified through a series of standard hydrodynamic benchmarks, demonstrating its potential as a powerful tool for astrophysical research.

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arXiv2025

Photoevaporation from Inner Protoplanetary Disks Confronted with Observations

The decades-long explorations on the dispersal of protoplanetary disks involve many debates about photoevaporation versus magnetized wind launching mechanisms. This letter argues that the observed winds originating from the inner disk ($R\lesssim 0.3$ AU) cannot be explained by the photoevaporative mechanism. Energy conservation requires the presumed photoevaporative winds to be heated to $\gtrsim 10^5$ K when launched from inner disks. However, due to efficient thermal accommodation with dust grains and cooling processes at high densities, X-ray irradiation at energies above 1 keV cannot efficiently launch winds in the first place because of its high penetration. Some studies claiming X-ray wind launching have oversimplified the thermochemical couplings. Furthermore, heating the gas to escape velocity will over-ionize it, suppressing the species responsible for observed forbidden lines (e.g., [OI] 6300 $Å$ ). Confirmed by semi-analytic integrations of thermochemical fluid structures, such high ionizations contradict the observed emission of neutral and singly-ionized atoms from the winds originating from the inner disks.

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arXiv2025

Twinkle: A GPU-based binary-lens microlensing code with contour integration method

With the rapidly increasing rate of microlensing planet detections, microlensing modeling software faces significant challenges in computation efficiency. Here, we develop the Twinkle code, an efficient and robust binary-lens modeling software suite optimized for heterogeneous computing devices, especially GPUs. Existing microlensing codes have the issue of catastrophic cancellation that undermines the numerical stability and precision, and Twinkle resolves them by refining the coefficients of the binary-lens equation. We also devise an improved method for robustly identifying ghost images, thereby enhancing computational reliability. We have advanced the state of the art by optimizing Twinkle specifically for heterogeneous computing devices by taking into account the unique task and cache memory dispatching patterns of GPUs, while the compatibility with the traditional computing architectures of CPUs is still maintained. Twinkle has demonstrated an acceleration of approximately 2 orders of magnitude (>~100 times) on contemporary GPUs. The enhancement in computational speed of Twinkle will translate to the delivery of accurate and highly efficient data analysis for ongoing and upcoming microlensing projects. Both GPU and CPU versions of Twinkle are open-source and publicly available.

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arXiv2024

Open Cluster Dynamics under the Influence of Outflow-Ambient Interactions

Stars with outflows impinging on ambient gas experience accelerations due to the gravitational feedback from the interaction morphology between the outflow and the ambient gas. Such ``negative dynamical friction'' (NDF), in contrast to the conventional ``dynamical friction'' (DF), is studied for its impact on the dynamics of open clusters (OCs) immersed in a uniform ambient gas. We modify the $N$-body integration code \rebound\ with both NDF and DF implemented according to the outflow conditions of each star in a consistently constructed OC. The evolution of stars is also involved in determining the gas-star interactions throughout their stellar lives. Compared to DF-only and gas-free models with identical initial conditions, the NDF-affected cluster is puffier and evaporates faster, as indicated by various diagnostics, including lower velocity dispersions and larger half-mass and half-light radii. Neutron stars with fast winds are expelled from the cluster due to their intensive NDF effect, even without the ``kicks'' by asymmetric supernovae. Exploration of parameter space confirms that the NDF effect is generally enhanced with higher ambient gas densities, in qualitative agreement with the expression of acceleration. Outflow-ambient interactions should be considered for the proper interpretation of the stellar dynamics evolution in clusters.

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arXiv2024

Turbulent Diffuse Molecular Media with Non-ideal Magnetohydrodynamics and Consistent Thermochemistry: Numerical Simulations and Dynamic Characteristics

Turbulent diffuse molecular clouds can exhibit complicated morphologies caused by the interactions among radiation, chemistry, fluids, and fields. We performed full 3D simulations for turbulent diffuse molecular interstellar media, featuring time-dependent non-equilibrium thermochemistry co-evolved with magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). Simulation results exhibit the relative abundances of key chemical species (e.g., C, CO, OH) vary by more than one order of magnitude for the "premature" epoch of chemical evolution ($t\lesssim 2\times 10^5~{\rm yr}$). Various simulations are also conducted to study the impacts of physical parameters. Non-ideal MHD effects are essential in shaping the behavior of gases, and strong magnetic fields ($\sim 10~μ{\rm G}$) tend to inhibit vigorous compressions and thus reduce the fraction of warm gases ($T\gtrsim 10^2~{\rm K}$). Thermodynamical and chemical conditions of the gas are sensitive to modulation by dynamic conditions, especially the energy injection by turbulence. Chemical features, including ionization (cosmic ray and diffuse interstellar radiation), would not directly affect the turbulence power spectra. Nonetheless, their effects are prominent in the distribution profiles of temperatures and gas densities. Comprehensive observations are necessary and useful to eliminate the degeneracies of physical parameters and constrain the properties of diffuse molecular clouds with confidence.

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arXiv2024

Non-ideal Magnetohydrodynamic Instabilities in Protoplanetary Disks: Vertical Modes and Reflection Asymmetry

Magnetized disk winds and wind-driven accretion are an essential and intensively studied dispersion mechanism of protoplanetary disks. However, the stability of these mechanisms has yet to be adequately examined. This paper employs semi-analytic linear perturbation theories under non-ideal magnetohydrodynamics, focusing on disk models whose magnetic diffusivities vary by a few orders of magnitude from the disk midplane to its surface. Linear modes are distinguished by their symmetry with respect to the midplane. These modes have qualitatively different growth rates: symmetric modes almost always decay, while at least one anti-symmetric mode always has a positive growth rate. This growth rate decreases faster than the Keplerian angular velocity with cylindrical radius $R$ in the disk and scales steeper than $R^{-5/2}$ in the fiducial disk model. The growth of anti-symmetric modes breaks the reflection symmetry across the disk equatorial plane, and may occur even in the absence of the Hall effect. In the disk regions where fully developed anti-symmetric modes occur, accretion flows appear only on one side of the disk, while disk winds occur only on the other. This may explain the asymmetry of some observed protoplanetary-disk outflows.

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arXiv2024

Cloud Crushing and Dissipation of Uniformly-Driven Adiabatic Turbulence in Circumgalactic Media

The circumgalactic medium (CGM) is responsive to kinetic disruptions generated by nearby astrophysical events. In this work, we study the saturation and dissipation of turbulent hydrodynamics within the CGM through an extensive array of 252 numerical simulations with a large parameter space. These simulations are endowed with proper cooling mechanisms to consistently explore the parameter space spanned by the average gas density, metallicity, and turbulence driving strength. A dichotomy emerges in the dynamics dissipation behaviors. Disturbances that are hot and subsonic are characterized by weak compression and slow dissipation, resulting in density fluctuations typically $\lesssim 10^{-2}$. Conversely, warm supersonic turbulence, marked by significant compression shocks and subsequent rapid cooling, is associated with substantial clumping factors $\sim 10^0-10^1$. In the supersonic cases, the kinetic energy decay is divided into a rate-limiting phase of shock dissipation and a comparatively swift phase of thermal dissipation, predominantly occurring within the overdense regions. Upon turbulence driving turnoff, the strong density contrasts decay within a relatively brief timescale of $\sim 30 - 300~{\rm Myr}$, depending on the average gas density. Dense clouds are crushed on similar timescales of $ \sim 30 - 100 ~{\rm Myr} $, depending on turbulence driving strength but independent from average gas density. Results of this work also contribute a novel dataset of dissipation timescales that incorporates an understanding of kinematics and thermodynamics in addition to the traditional cooling rate tables, which may serve as a valuable asset for forthcoming simulations that aim to explore gas dynamics on galactic and cosmological scales.

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arXiv2024

The Kinematic and Chemical Properties of the Close-in Planet Host Star 8 UMi

A recent study by Hon et al. reported that a close-in planet around the red clump star, 8 UMi, should have been engulfed during the expansion phase of its parent star's evolution. They explained the survival of this exoplanet through a binary-merger channel for 8 UMi. The key to testing this formation scenario is to derive the true age of this star: is it an old "imposter" resulting from a binary merger, or a genuinely young red clump giant? To accomplish this, we derive kinematic and chemical properties for 8 UMi using astrometric data from {\it Gaia} DR3 and the element-abundance pattern measured from a high-resolution ($R \sim 75,000$) spectrum taken by SOPHIE. Our analysis shows that 8 UMi is a normal thin-disk star with orbital rotation speed of $\it{V}_\mathrmϕ=\mathrm{244.96 km s^{-1}}$, and possesses a Solar metallicity ([Fe/H] $= -0.05 \pm 0.07$) and $α$-element abundance ratio ([$α$/Fe] $= +0.01 \pm 0.03$). By adopting well-established relationships between age and space velocities/elemental abundances, we estimate a kinematic age of $3.50^{+3.00}_{-2.00}$ Gyr, and a chemical age of $3.25^{+2.50}_{-1.50}$ Gyr from [C/N] and $3.47 \pm 1.96$ Gyr from [Y/Mg] for 8 UMi, respectively. These estimates are consistent with the isochrone-fitting age ($1.90^{+1.15}_{-0.30}$ Gyr) of 8 UMi, but are all much younger than the timescale required in a binary-merger scenario. This result challenges the binary-merger model; the existence of such a closely orbiting exoplanet around a giant star remains a mystery yet to be resolved.

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arXiv2024

FEASTS Combined with Interferometry (I): Overall Properties of Diffuse HI and Implications for Gas Accretion in Nearby Galaxies

We present a statistical study of the properties of diffuse HI in ten nearby galaxies, comparing the HI detected by the single-dish telescope FAST (FEASTS program) and the interferometer VLA (THINGS program), respectively. The THINGS' observation missed HI with a median of 23% due to the short-spacing problem of interferometry and limited sensitivity. We extract the diffuse HI by subtracting the dense HI, which is obtained from the THINGS data with a uniform flux-density threshold, from the total HI detected by FAST. Among the sample, the median diffuse-HI fraction is 34%, and more diffuse HI is found in galaxies exhibiting more prominent tidal-interaction signatures. The diffuse HI we detected seems to be distributed in disk-like layers within a typical thickness of $1\,\text{kpc}$, different from the more halo-like diffuse HI detected around NGC 4631 in a previous study. Most of the diffuse HI is cospatial with the dense HI and has a typical column density of $10^{17.7}$-$10^{20.1}\,\text{cm}^{-2}$. The diffuse and dense HI exhibits a similar rotational motion, but the former lags by a median of 25% in at least the inner disks, and its velocity dispersions are typically twice as high. Based on a simplified estimation of circum-galactic medium properties and assuming pressure equilibrium, the volume density of diffuse HI appears to be constant within each individual galaxy, implying its role as a cooling interface. Comparing with existing models, these results are consistent with a possible link between tidal interactions, the formation of diffuse HI, and gas accretion.

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arXiv2023

High-resolution [O I] line spectral mapping of TW Hya supportive of a magnetothermal wind

Disk winds are thought to play a critical role in the evolution and dispersal of protoplanetary disks. A primary diagnostic of this physics is emission from the wind, especially in the low-velocity component of the [O I] $\lambda6300$ line. However, the interpretation of the line is usually based on spectroscopy alone, which leads to confusion between magnetohydrodynamic winds and photoevaporative winds. Here we report that in high-resolution spectral mapping of TW Hya by the multi-unit spectroscopic explorer at the Very Large Telescope, 80% of the [O I] emission is confined to within 1 AU radially from the star. A generic model of a magnetothermal wind produces [O I] emission at the base of the wind that broadly matches the flux and the observed spatial and spectral profiles. The emission at large radii is much fainter that predicted from models of photoevaporation, perhaps because the magnetothermal wind partially shields the outer disk from energetic radiation from the central star. This result calls into question the previously assessed importance of photoevaporation in disk dispersal predicted by models.

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arXiv2023

Gap Opening in Protoplanetary Disks: Gas Dynamics from Global Non-ideal MHD Simulations with Consistent Thermochemistry

Recent high angular resolution ALMA observations have revealed numerous gaps in protoplanetary disks. A popular interpretation has been that planets open them. Most previous investigations of planet gap-opening have concentrated on viscous disks. Here, we carry out 2D (axisymmetric) global simulations of gap opening by a planet in a wind-launching non-ideal MHD disk with consistent thermochemistry. We find a strong concentration of poloidal magnetic flux in the planet-opened gap, where the gas dynamics are magnetically dominated. The magnetic field also drives a fast (nearly sonic) meridional gas circulation in the denser disk regions near the inner and outer edges of the gap, which may be observable through high-resolution molecular line observations. The gap is more ionized than its denser surrounding regions, with a better magnetic field-matter coupling. In particular, it has a much higher abundance of molecular ion HCO$^+$, consistent with ALMA observations of the well-studied AS 209 protoplanetary disk that has prominent gaps and fast meridional motions reaching the local sound speed. Finally, we provide fitting formulae for the ambipolar and Ohmic diffusivities as a function of the disk local density, which can be used for future 3D simulations of planet gap-opening in non-ideal MHD disks where thermochemistry is too computationally expensive to evolve self-consistently with the magneto-hydrodynamics.

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arXiv2023

Detection of Atmospheric Escape from Four Young Mini Neptunes

We use Keck/NIRSPEC to survey a sample of of young ($<$1 Gyr), short period mini Neptunes orbiting nearby K dwargs to measure their mass loss via the metastable helium line. We detect helium absorption from all four of the targets in our initial sample. The first detection, around TOI 560b, was announced in a previous paper. We now announce three additional detections around TOI 1430.01, 2076b, and TOI 1683.01. All four planets show an average in-transit excess absorption of 0.7--1.0%. However, the outflows differ in their kinematic properties. TOI 1430b exhibits pre-ingress absorption, while TOI 2076b's outflow is exceptionally optically thick and shows significant post-egress absorption. For all four planets, the width of the measured helium absorption signal is consistent with expectations for a photoevaporative outflow (10--30 km/s, 5000--10,000 K). Unless broadening mechanisms other than thermal velocity and the bulk outflow velocity are significant, our observations disfavor core-powered mass loss models, which predict much slower (1--3 km/s) outflows. We utilize both an isothermal Parker wind model and an order-of-magnitude method to estimate the mass loss timescale, and obtain $\sim$ a few hundred Myr for each planet. We conclude that many, if not all, of these planets will lose their hydrogen-rich envelopes and become super Earths. Our results demonstrate that most mini Neptunes orbiting sun-like stars have primordial atmospheres, and that photoevaporation is an efficient mechanism for stripping these atmospheres and transforming these planets into super Earths.

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arXiv2022

Dynamical Effects of Colliding Outflows in Binary Systems

The outflow of an object traveling in a fluid can shape the fluid morphology by forming a forward bow shock which accelerates the object via gravitational feedback. This dynamical effect, namely "dynamical anti-friction", has been studied in idealized infinite uniform media, which suffers from the convergence problem due to the long-range nature of gravitation. In this work, we conduct global 3D hydrodynamic simulations to study this effect in the scenario of a binary system, where the collision of outflows from both stars creates a suitable configuration. We demonstrate with simulations that a dense and slow outflow can give rise to a positive torque on the binary and lead to the expansion of the orbit. As an application, we show that binaries consisting of an AGB star and an outflowing pulsar can experience $\sim 10~\%$ orbit expansion during the AGB stage, in addition to the contribution from mass-loss. We also prove that the gravitational force drops as $O(r^{-3})$ from the center of mass in the binary scenarios, which guarantees a quick converge of the overall effect.

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