Eccentricity Growth Research Articles

A Study of the Lunisolar Secular Resonance 2ω˙+Ω˙=0

The dynamics of small bodies around the Earth has gained a renewed interest, since the awareness of the problems that space debris can cause in the nearby future. A relevant role in space debris is played by lunisolar secular resonances, which might contribute to an increase of the orbital elements, typically of the eccentricity. We concentrate our attention on the lunisolar secular resonance described by the relation $2\dot{\omega}+\dot{\Omega}=0$, where $\omega$ and $\Omega$ denote the argument of perigee and the longitude of the ascending node of the space debris. We introduce three different models with increasing complexity. We show that the growth in eccentricity, as observed in space debris located in the MEO region at the inclination about equal to $56^\circ$, can be explained as a natural effect of the secular resonance $2\dot{\omega}+\dot{\Omega}=0$, while the chaotic variations of the orbital parameters are the result of interaction and overlapping of nearby resonances.

A numerical investigation on the eccentricity growth of GNSS disposal orbits

We present the results of an extensive numerical exploration performed on the eccentricity growth in MEO associated with two possible end-of-life disposal strategies for GNSS satellites. The study calls attention to the existence of values of initial inclination, longitude of ascending node, and argument of perigee that are more advantageous in terms of long-term stability of the orbit. The important role of the initial epoch and a corresponding periodicity are also shown. The present investigation is influential in view of recent analytical and numerical developments on the chaotic nature of the region due to lunisolar perturbations, but also for the upcoming Galileo and BeiDou constellations.

Suppression of extreme orbital evolution in triple systems with short-range forces

The Lidov-Kozai (LK) mechanism plays an important role in the secular evolution of many hierarchical triple systems. The standard LK mechanism consists of large-amplitude oscillations in eccentricity and inclination of a binary subject to the quadrupole potential from an outer perturber. Recent work has shown that when the octupole terms are included in the potential, the inner binary can reach more extreme eccentricities as well as undergo orientation flips. It is known that pericenter precessions due to short-range effects, such as General Relativity and tidal and rotational distortions, can limit the growth of eccentricity and even suppress standard (quadrupolar) LK oscillations, but their effect on the octupole-level LK mechanism has not been fully explored. In this paper, we systematically study how these short-range forces affect the extreme orbital behaviour found in octupole LK cycles. In general, the influence of the octupole potential is confined to a range of initial mutual inclinations Itot centered around 90deg (when the inner binary mass ratio is <<1), with this range expanding with increasing octupole strength. We find that, while the short-range forces do not change the width and location of this "window of influence", they impose a strict upper limit on the maximum achievable eccentricity. This limiting eccentricity can be calculated analytically, and its value holds even for strong octupole potential and for the general case of three comparable masses. Short-range forces also affect orbital flips, progressively reducing the range of Itot within which flips are possible as the intensity of these forces increases.

ON THE FORMATION OF ECCENTRIC MILLISECOND PULSARS WITH HELIUM WHITE-DWARF COMPANIONS

Millisecond pulsars (MSPs) orbiting helium white dwarfs (WDs) in eccentric orbits challenge the established binary evolution paradigm that predicts efficient orbital circularization during the mass transfer episode that spins up the pulsar. Freire and Tauris (2014) recently proposed that these binary MSPs may instead form from the rotationally delayed accretion-induced collapse of a massive WD. This scenario predicts that eccentric systems preferably host low-mass pulsars and travel with small systemic velocities - in tension with new observational constraints. Here, I show that a substantial growth in eccentricity may alternatively arise from the dynamical interaction of the binary with a circumbinary disk. Such a disk may form from ejected donor material during hydrogen flash episodes, when the neutron star is already an active radio pulsar and tidal forces can no longer circularize the binary. I demonstrate that a short-lived ($10^{4}-10^{5}$ \,yr) disk can result to eccentricities of $e\sim0.01-0.15$ for orbital periods between 15 and 50 days. Finally, I propose that, more generally, the disk hypothesis may explain the lack of circular binary pulsars for the aforementioned orbital-period range.

GIANT OUTBURSTS IN Be/X-RAY BINARIES

Be/X-ray binary systems exhibit both periodic (Type I) X-ray outbursts and giant (Type II) outbursts, whose origin has remained elusive. We suggest that Type II X-ray outbursts occur when a highly misaligned decretion disk around the Be star becomes eccentric, allowing the compact object companion to capture a large amount of material at periastron. Using 3D smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations we model the long term evolution of a representative Be/X-ray binary system. We find that periodic (Type I) X-ray outbursts occur when the neutron star is close to periastron for all disk inclinations. Type II outbursts occur for large misalignment angles and are associated with eccentricity growth that occurs on a timescale of about 10 orbital periods. Mass capture from the eccentric decretion disk results in an accretion disk around the neutron star whose estimated viscous time is long enough to explain the extended duration of Type II outbursts. Previous studies suggested that the outbursts are caused by a warped disk but our results suggest that this is not sufficient, the disk must be both highly misaligned and eccentric to initiate a Type II accretion event.

Influence of the inclination damping on the formation of planetary systems

AbstractHighly non-coplanar extrasolar systems (e.g. Upsilon Andromedae) and unexpected spin-orbit misalignment of some exoplanets have been discovered. In Libert and Tsiganis (2011), a significant increase of the mutual inclination of some multi-planet systems has been observed during the type II migration, as a result of planet-planet scattering and/or resonant interactions between the planets. Here we investigate the effect of the inclination damping due to planet-disk interactions on the previous results, for a variety of planetary systems with different initial configurations and mass ratios. Using the damping formulae for eccentricity and inclination provided by the numerical hydrodynamical simulations of Bitschet al.(2013), we examine their impact on the possible multiple resonances between the planets and how the growth in eccentricity and inclination is affected.

Migration of massive black hole binaries in self-gravitating discs: retrograde versus prograde

We study the interplay between mass transfer, accretion and gravitational torques onto a black hole binary migrating in a self-gravitating, retrograde circumbinary disc. A direct comparison with an identical prograde disc shows that: (i) because of the absence of resonances, the cavity size is a factor a(1+e) smaller for retrograde discs; (ii) nonetheless the shrinkage of a circular binary semi--major axis, a, is identical in both cases; (iii) a circular binary in a retrograde disc remains circular while eccentric binaries grow more eccentric. For non-circular binaries, we measure the orbital decay rates and the eccentricity growth rates to be exponential as long as the binary orbits in the plane of its disc. Additionally, for these co-planar systems, we find that interaction (~ non--zero torque) stems only from the cavity edge plus a(1+e) in the disc, i.e. for dynamical purposes, the disc can be treated as a annulus of small radial extent. We find that simple 'dust' models in which the binary- disc interaction is purely gravitational can account for all main numerical results, both for prograde and retrograde discs. Furthermore, we discuss the possibility of an instability occurring for highly eccentric binaries causing it to leave the disc plane, secularly tilt and converge to a prograde system. Our results suggest that there are two stable configurations for binaries in self-gravitating discs: the special circular retrograde case and an eccentric (e~ 0.6) prograde configuration as a stable attractor.

SHEDDING LIGHT ON THE ECCENTRICITY VALLEY: GAP HEATING AND ECCENTRICITY EXCITATION OF GIANT PLANETS IN PROTOPLANETARY DISKS

We show that the first order (non co-orbital) corotation torques are significantly modified by entropy gradients in a non-barotropic protoplanetary disk. Such non-barotropic torques can dramatically alter the balance that, for barotropic cases, results in the net eccentricity damping for giant gap-clearing planets embedded in the disk. We demonstrate that stellar illumination can heat the gap enough for the planet's orbital eccentricity to instead be excited. We also discuss the "Eccentricity Valley" noted in the known exoplanet population, where low-metallicity stars have a deficit of eccentric planets between $\sim 0.1$ and $\sim 1$ AU compared to metal-rich systems (Dawson & Murray-Clay 2013). We show that this feature in the planet distribution may be due to the self-shadowing of the disk by a rim located at the dust sublimation radius $\sim 0.1$ AU, which is known to exist for several T Tauri systems. In the shadowed region between $\sim 0.1$ and $\sim 1$ AU lack of gap insolation allows disk interactions to damp eccentricity. Outside such shadowed regions stellar illumination can heat the planetary gaps and drive eccentricity growth for giant planets. We suggest that the self-shadowing does not arise at higher metallicity due to the increased optical depth of the gas interior to the dust sublimation radius.

A limit on eccentricity growth from global 3D simulations of disc–planet interactions

We present high-resolution 3D simulations of the planet–disc interaction using smoothed particle hydrodynamics to investigate the possibility of driving eccentricity growth by this mechanism. For models with a given disc viscosity (α = 0.01), we find that for small planet masses (a few Jupiter masses) and canonical surface densities, no significant eccentricity growth is seen over the duration of our simulations. This contrasts with the limiting case of large planet mass (over 20 MJup) and extremely high surface densities, where we find eccentricity growth in agreement with previously published results. We identify the cause of this as being a threshold surface density for a given planet mass below which eccentricity growth cannot be excited by this method. Further, the radial profile of the disc surface density is found to have a stronger effect on eccentricity growth than previously acknowledged, implying that care must be taken when contrasting results from different disc models. We discuss the implication of this result for real planets embedded in gaseous discs, and suggest that the disc–planet interaction does not contribute significantly to observed exoplanet eccentricities.

The effect of secular resonances on the long-term orbital evolution of uncontrollable objects on satellite radio navigation systems in the MEO region

We present the results of the study of long-term orbital evolution of space debris objects, formed from end-of-life space vehicles (SV) of satellite radio navigation systems in the medium Earth orbit (MEO) region. Dynamical features of the evolution of objects in this region have been studied on the basis of 20-year laser surveillance with the Etalon-1 and Etalon-2 satellites and the results of numerical simulation of the long-term evolution of operating and disposal orbits of uncontrolled GLONASS and GPS SVs. It is shown that perturbations from secular lunisolar resonances produce an eccentricity growth for orbits with inclinations chosen for navigation constellations; this significantly changes the positions of these orbits in space and results in the ingress of end-of-life objects into the area of operating SVs.

Evolution of binary black holes in self gravitating discs

We study the interplay between gas accretion and gravity torques in changing a binary elements and its total angular momentum (L) budget. Especially, we analyse the physical origin of the gravity torques (T_g) and their location within the disc. We analyse 3D SPH simulations of the evolution of initially quasi-circular massive black hole binaries (BHBs) residing in the central hollow of massive self-gravitating circumbinary discs. We use different thermodynamics within the cavity and for the numerical size of the black holes to show that (i) the BHB eccentricity growth found previously is a general result, independent of the accretion and the adopted thermodynamics; (ii) the semi-major axis decay depends both on the T_g and on the interplay with the disc-binary L-transfer due to accretion; (iii) the spectral structure of the T_g is predominately caused by disc edge overdensities and spiral arms developing in the body of the disc and, in general, does not reflect directly the period of the binary; (iv) the net T_g changes sign across the BHB corotation radius. We quantify the relative importance of the two, which appear to depend on the thermodynamical properties of the instreaming gas, and which is crucial in assessing the disc-binary L-transfer; (v) the net torque manifests as a purely kinematic (non-resonant) effect as it stems from the cavity, where the material flows in and out in highly eccentric orbits. Both accretion onto the black holes and the interaction with gas streams inside the cavity must be taken into account to assess the fate of the BHB. Moreover, the total torque exerted by the disc affects L(BHB) by changing all the elements (mass, mass ratio, eccentricity, semimajor axis) of the BHB. Common prescriptions equating tidal torque to semi-major axis shrinking might therefore be poor approximations for real astrophysical systems.

SECULAR DYNAMICAL ANTI-FRICTION IN GALACTIC NUCLEI

We identify a gravitational-dynamical process in near-Keplerian potentials of galactic nuclei that occurs when an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) is migrating on an eccentric orbit through the stellar cluster towards the central supermassive black hole (SMBH). We find that, apart from conventional dynamical friction, the IMBH experiences an often much stronger systematic torque due to the secular (i.e., orbit-averaged) interactions with the cluster's stars. The force which results in this torque is applied, counterintuitively, in the same direction as the IMBH's precession and we refer to its action as "secular-dynamical anti-friction" (SDAF). We argue that SDAF, and not the gravitational ejection of stars, is responsible for the IMBH's eccentricity increase seen in the initial stages of previous N-body simulations. Our numerical experiments, supported by qualitative arguments, demonstrate that (1) when the IMBH's precession direction is artificially reversed, the torque changes sign as well, which decreases the orbital eccentricity, (2) the rate of eccentricity growth is sensitive to the IMBH migration rate, with zero systematic eccentricity growth for an IMBH whose orbit is artificially prevented from inward migration, and (3) SDAF is the strongest when the central star cluster is rapidly rotating. This leads to eccentricity growth/decrease for the clusters rotating in the opposite/same direction relative to the IMBH's orbital motion.

Erratum: Eccentricity growth rates of tidally distorted discs

Erratum: Eccentricity growth rates of tidally distorted discs

A conservation-based method for simulating the inspiral of binary black holes

We present a new approach to studying the evolution of massive black hole binaries in a stellar environment. By imposing conservation of total energy and angular momentum in scattering experiments, we find the dissipation forces that are exerted on the black holes by the stars, and thus obtain the decaying path of the binary from the classical dynamical friction regime down to subparsec scales. Our scheme lies between scattering experiments and N-body simulations. While still resolving collisions between stars and black holes, it is fast enough and allows to use a large enough number of particles to reach a smooth and convergent result. We studied both an equal mass and a 10:1 mass ratio binaries under various initial conditions. We show that while an equal mass binary stalls at a nearly circular orbit, a runaway growth of eccentricity occurs in the unequal mass case. This effect reduces the timescale for black hole coalescence through gravitational radiation to well below the Hubble time, even in spherical and gasless systems formed by dry mergers.

Reconstructing temporal patterns of snow avalanches at Lago del Desierto,southern Patagonian Andes

Snow avalanches recurrently cause substantial damage to infrastructure and losses in human lives in mountainous environments around the world. Densely populated regions have suffered more intensely the destructive forces of avalanches; however, settlers of these regions have developed tools to mitigate avalanche risk, including avalanche hazard maps. To design detailed hazard maps, accurate information on avalanche runout and frequency is necessary. In areas where avalanches are mostly undocumented, like in the Andes, dendrochronological methods become a valuable tool for reconstructing spatio-temporal avalanche patterns. At Lago del Desierto (southern Patagonian Andes, Argentina), trees from nine avalanche tracks were sampled. Nothofagus pumilio, a winter deciduous broad-leaved tree, was sampled in all cases. Avalanche activity is recognized based on the presence of scars, changes in stem eccentricity, reaction wood and abrupt growth changes. A rating system was used to define the relative importance of each tree-ring indicator in the reconstructed chronology of events. According to this chronology, widespread avalanche activity on the slope was found for the years 1918, 1930, 1931, 1971, 1995 and 1998. Superposed Epoch Analysis indicated that total monthly precipitation during the three snowiest months from May to October of 1971, 1995 and 1998 (years for which climatic data exists for validation) was significantly greater than for years without large avalanche activity. In contrast, no significant correlations were found between monthly temperature variations and years with large avalanche activity on the slope. Atmospheric circulation patterns associated with years of major avalanche activity show features typically observed during the cold phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation cycle, i.e. La Niña. For those cases, results also show an increase in the westerlies across the South Pacific and southern South America, resulting in both higher precipitation and stronger winds over the study area that favor snow avalanche episodes. We point out the need of a more systematic sampling strategy in order to reconstruct spatial avalanche patterns in the southern Andes, which are a complement of temporal patterns to design hazard maps.

Semi-analytical investigations of the long term evolution of the eccentricity of Galileo and GPS-like orbits

This paper aims at investigating the stability over 150 years of a very large number of trajectories in the Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) region, near the orbits devoted to radionavigation such as the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS like GPS, Glonass, Galileo, COMPASS). The stability is characterized by the long term evolution of the eccentricity, and a stable orbit will be defined by initial conditions not inducing through gravitational perturbations a high difference between the perigee and apogee altitudes over a 150 years (for keeping as low as possible the collision risk with operational orbits). The initial conditions of motion used for our tests cover a wide range of semi-major axes and inclinations, regularly sampled, so as to describe as exhaustively as possible the gravitational perturbations acting on the space debris population in these regions. In this study, we pay particular attention to the dynamical properties which can make the orbits eccentricity becoming very large, due to effects induced by the non-spherical shape of the Earth, and the luni-solar attraction, with an amplitude governed by the satellite inclination, as well. We show that even if apogee and perigee variations must be limited to less than 300 km (corresponding to a maximum allowed eccentricity growth of 0.01), there are some cases where the eccentricity growth can rise up to the order of 0.7 over a few decades. The paper is organized such as follows. We begin with the general and historical background of the study. We then give some detail about the semi-analytical modelling than we will propagate with about 36,000 various initial conditions over 150 years. These simulations are based on a parallelized code which works on a “Grid” with about 60,000 CPUs available, ensuring reasonable integration times. First interpretations are then addressed, from an analytical point of view, searching for combinations of angles and initial conditions inducing very long periodic terms in the temporal variations of the eccentricity.

Eccentricity growth rates of tidally distorted discs

We consider discs that orbit a central object and are tidally perturbed by a circular orbit companion. Such discs are sometimes subject to an eccentric instability due to the effects of certain resonances. Eccentric instabilities may be present in planetary rings perturbed by satellites, protostellar discs perturbed by planets, and discs in binary star systems. Although the basic mechanism for eccentric instability is well understood, the detailed response of a gaseous disc to such an instability is not understood. We apply a linear eccentricity evolution equation developed by Goodchild and Ogilvie. We explore how the eccentricity is distributed in such a disc and how the distribution in turn affects the instability growth rate for a range of disc properties. We identify a disc mode, termed the superhump mode, that is likely at work in the superhump binary star case. The mode results from the excitation of the fundamental free precession mode. We determine an analytic expression for the fundamental free mode precession rate that is applicable to a sufficiently cool disc. Depending on the disc sound speed and disc edge location, other eccentric modes can grow faster than the superhump mode and dominate.

Rank-one ℤd actions and directional entropy

AbstractWe study the dynamic properties of rank-one ℤd actions as a function of the geometry of the shapes of the towers generating the action. Some basic properties require only minimal restrictions on the geometry of the towers. Our main results concern the directional entropy of rank-one ℤd actions with rectangular tower shapes, where we show that the geometry of the rectangles plays a significant role. We show that for each n≤d there is an n-dimensional direction with entropy zero. We also show that if the growth in eccentricity of the rectangular towers is sub-exponential, then all directional entropies are zero. An example of D. Rudolph shows that, without a restriction on eccentricity, a positive entropy direction is possible.

Influence of a stellar cusp on the dynamics of young stellar discs and the origin of the S-stars in the Galactic Centre

Observations of the Galactic Centre show evidence of one or two disc-like structures of very young stars orbiting the central super-massive black hole within a distance of a few 0.1 pc. A number of analyses have been carried out to investigate the dynamical behaviour and consequences of these discs, including disc thickness and eccentricity growth as well as mutual interaction and warping. However, most of these studies have neglected the influence of the stellar cusp surrounding the black hole, which is believed to be 1-2 orders of magnitude more massive than the disc(s). By means of N-body integrations using our bhint code, we study the impact of stellar cusps of different compositions. We find that although the presence of a cusp does have an important effect on the evolution of an otherwise isolated flat disc, its influence on the evolution of disc thickness and warping is rather mild in a two-disc configuration. However, we show that the creation of highly eccentric orbits strongly depends on the graininess of the cusp (i.e. the mean and maximum stellar masses): While Chang (2009) recently found that full cycles of Kozai resonance are prevented by the presence of an analytic cusp, we show that relaxation processes play an important role in such highly dense regions and support short-term resonances. We thus find that young disc stars on initially circular orbits can achieve high eccentricities by resonant effects also in the presence of a cusp of stellar remnants, yielding a mechanism to create S-stars and hyper-velocity stars. Furthermore, we discuss the underlying initial mass function (IMF) of the young stellar discs and find no definite evidence for a non-canonical IMF.

Massive black hole binary mergers within subparsec scale gas discs

We study the efficiency and dynamics of supermassive black hole binary mergers driven by angular momentum loss to small-scale gas discs. Such binaries form after major galaxy mergers, but their fate is unclear since hardening through stellar scattering becomes very inefficient at sub-parsec distances. Gas discs may dominate binary dynamics on these scales, and promote mergers. Using numerical simulations, we investigate the evolution of the semi-major axis and eccentricity of binaries embedded within geometrically thin gas discs. Our simulations directly resolve angular momentum transport within the disc, which at the radii of interest is likely dominated by disc self-gravity. We show that the binary decays at a rate which is in good agreement with analytical estimates, while the eccentricity grows. Saturation of eccentricity growth is not observed up to values e > � 0.35. Accretion onto the black holes is variable, and is roughly modulated by the binary orbital frequency. Scaling our results, we analytically estimate the maximum rate of binary decay that is possible without fragmentation occuring within the surrounding gas disc, and compare that rate to an estimate of the stellar dynamical hardening rate. For binary masses in the range 10 5 M⊙ < � M < � 10 8 M⊙ we find that decay due to gas discs may dominate for separations below a � 10 −2 pc 0.1 pc, in the regime where the disc is optically thick. The minimum merger time scale is shorter than the Hubble time for M < � 10 7 M⊙. This implies that gas discs could commonly attend relatively low mass black hole mergers, and that a significant population of binaries might exist at separations of a few hundredths of a pc, where the combined decay rate is slowest. For more massive binaries, where this mechanism fails to act quickly enough, we suggest that scattering of stars formed within a fragmenting gas disc could act as a significant additional sink of binary angular momentum.