Computer simulations of close encounters between binary and single stars - The effect of the impact velocity and the stellar masses

Abstract

view Abstract Citations (34) References (4) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS Computer simulations of close encounters between binary and single stars - The effect of the impact velocity and the stellar masses Fullerton, L. W. ; Hills, J. G. Abstract The effect of impact velocity and the masses of the three stars involved in encounters between binary and single stars on the outcome of the collisions is studied in a total of 45,760 simulations. Defining as the alpha value the kinetic energy of impact, in units of the minimum kinetic energy required to break up the binary, it is found that the crossover point between tightly bound, or hard binaries, whose binding energies increase in collisions, and the more loosely bound, or soft binaries, whose binding energies decrease in collisions, occurs (1) at alpha values of about 0.5, if the impacting single star is less massive than the binary component, and (2) at alpha values of about 10, if the star mass is three or more times greater than that of the binary components. The probability that the binary will be broken up in the encounter is found to depend on the mass of the impacting single star, relative to that of the binary components, as well as on the impact velocity. Publication: The Astronomical Journal Pub Date: January 1982 DOI: 10.1086/113094 Bibcode: 1982AJ.....87..175F Keywords: Binary Stars; Collision Rates; Computerized Simulation; Encounters; Stellar Mass; Stellar Motions; Kinetic Energy; Stellar Magnitude; Stellar Models; Velocity Distribution; Astrophysics full text sources ADS |