The Effect of Accretion on Young Hierarchical Triple Systems

Abstract

We consider the possible effects of accretion on the stability of young triple systems. The dynamics of the accretion depend critically on the specific angular momentum of the infailing gas relative to that of the triple system and on the component masses. We consider a selection of scenarios, with differing specific angular momentum accretion onto systems of various mass and separation ratios. A simple analytical argument is used for cases where the angular momentum of the accreting gas is too low to affect the angular momenta of the triple orbits. For higher angular momentum accretion, we employ the results of a previous numerical study of the effect of accretion onto a binary system. We show that accretion can help stabilise unstable triple systems, or destabilise stable ones. We discuss our results in the context of two multiple star formation mechanisms.KeywordsAngular MomentumTriple SystemSingle StarBinary ComponentSeparation RatioThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.