Electromagnetic bursting of a rapidly rotating magnetized neutron star in a close binary system

We examine a possible manifestation of the electromagnetic activity of a magnetized, rotating neutron star in a binary system. Accreting matter from the companion is initially accumulated at the magnetosphere. When the accumulated mass is such that the inflow can start, together with the accretion flare there will be a burst due to the closure of electric currents. The luminosity associated to the latter effect may be as large as 10⁴² erg/s, if a neutron star possesses the following characteristics: massM =M , period of rotationP = 5 ms, magnetic fieldB ₀ = 10¹² G, and radiusr ₀ = 10⁶ cm. The electromagnetic activity might be relevant for understanding soft gamma ray repeaters.     

Ariel 1118-61 — A very close binary system or a slowly rotating neutron star?

The transient X-ray source Ariel 1118-61 has a period of 6.75 min. We review possible models for the X-ray source and in particular we consider orbital and rotational origins for the periodicity. Finally we discuss the possible identification of Ariel 1181-61 with the Mira-type variable RS Cen.Paper presented at the COSPAR Symposium on Fast Transients in X- and Gamma-Rays, held at Varna, Bulgaria, 29–31 May, 1975.     

Model for the explosion of a critical-mass neutron star in a binary system

A series of numerical models has been constructed for the three-dimensional explosion dynamics of a low-mass neutron star in a binary system that results from the collapse of the rotating iron core of a massive supernova. The numerical solution has been obtained by the particle method with an adaptive time step that allows the computational accuracy to be controlled automatically. The constructed numerical models include the proper motion of the massive component in the binary system of neutron stars, their finite sizes, the graduality of energy release during the explosive disruption of a critical-mass neutron star, and the nonuniform expansion velocity distribution of iron ejecta. The extent to which each of the listed parameters affects the explosion characteristics has been determined. The total explosion energy and the pulsar escape velocity have been estimated. A sizable fraction of the material of the exploded neutron star has been found to remain gravitationally bound to the massive component of the binary system. A further study of its dynamics is of interest in its own right, because the captured material can be considered as an additional source of muon neutrinos.     

Planetary system formation through binary star merging

A scenario is considered for the formation of a planetary system through the merging of a binary star comprised of low-mass (0.5–1 M _⊙) stars in the stage of contracting towards the main sequence. According to our previous computations (Sirotkin and Karetnikov, 2006), under certain conditions, the destruction of the more massive component can result in the formation of a central star, an accretion disk, and an extended arm. The extended arm is fragmented to form clouds of planetary masses (<5M _J). The formed disk and clouds rotate in the same direction as the central star. The clouds are in elongated orbits (e > 0.3) lying in the orbital plane of the initial binary system. To test these earlier results, we repeated computations for the same system parameters but with higher accuracy. The new computations confirmed the earlier results and gave new information about the cloud and disk structure.     

A study of the close binary star TU Monocerotis

New photometric elements,i=89°.5,r _a =0.24,r _b =0.25 andL _a =0.82(Y), 0.88(B), 0.94(U), are deduced for the eclipsing system TU Mon, using the incomplete Fourier method for the analysis of its light curve. They are based upon three-colour photoelectric observations obtained in 1966–68 with the 36-inch reflector of the Okayama Astrophysical Observatory. From discussion combined with the spectroscopic data byDeutsch (1945) and byPopper (1967), it seems fair to conclude that TU Mon is an ordinary semi-detached close binary system consisting of a detached brighter B5V star and an A5 subgiant in contact at its Roche limit.     

Photometric modelling of close binary star CN And

The results of two color photometry of active close binary CN And are presented and analyzed. The light curves of the system are obviously asymmetric, with the primary maximum brighter than the secondary maximum, which is known as the O’Conell effect. The most plausible explanation of the asymmetry is expected to be due to spot activity of the primary component. For the determination of physical and geometrical parameters, the most new version of W-D code was used, but the presence of asymmetry prevented the convergence of the method when the whole light curves were used. The solutions were obtained by applying mode 3 of W-D code to the first half of the light curves, assuming synchronous rotation and zero eccentricity. Absolute parameters of the system were obtained from combining the photometric solution with spectroscopic data obtained from radial velocity curve analysis. The results indicate the poor thermal contact of the components and transit primary minimum. Finally the O-C diagram was analyzed. It was found that the orbital period of the system is changing with a rate ofd P/dt = − 2.2(6) × 10⁻¹⁰ which corresponds to mass transfer from more massive component to less massive with the rate ofd M/dt ∼4.82 × 10⁻⁸ M _sun/year.     

Computer simulation of planet formation in a binary star system: Terrestrial planets

A model of planetary formation in a binary system with a small relative mass of primary is computed on the assumption of a mass transfer from the less massive component to the more massive one with no mass and angular momentum carried away from the system under consideration. At the last stage of mass transfer the condensed Moon-like objects (planetoids) are ejected through the inner Lagrange point of the primary Roche lobe with the outflow of gaseous matter.The whole system is considered in the plane of binary star rotation. Newtonian equations of motion are integrated with the initial conditions for the planetoids referred to as the coordinates and velocity of the inner Lagrangian point at the moments of planetoid ejections, all the pairwise gravitational interactions being included in computations but without a gas-drag. The mass transfer ceases at the primary relative mass 10^–3 which corresponds to the present Sun-Jupiter system. The total mass of planetoids approximates that of the terrestrial planets. Those are formed through coagulation of the planetoids with the effective radius of capture cross-section as an input parameter in the computer simulation. When the minimum separation between the pair of bodies becomes less than this radius they coalesce into a single body with their masses and momenta summed. If the effective radius value is under a certain limit the computer simulation yields the planetary system like that of terrestrial planets of the present Sun system.Numerical computations reveal the division of the planetoids into 4 groups along their distances from the Sun. Further, each group forms a single planet or a planet and a less massive body at the nearest orbits. The parameters of simulated planet orbits are close to the present ones and the interplanetary spacings are in accord with the Titius-Bode law.     

Radio precursors to neutron star binary mergings

We discuss a possible generation of radio bursts preceding final stages of binary neutron star mergings which can be accompanied by short gamma-ray bursts. Detection of such bursts appear to be advantageous in the low-frequency radio band due to a time delay of ten to several hundred seconds required for radio signal to propagate in the ionized intergalactic medium. This delay makes it possible to use short gamma-ray burst alerts to promptly monitor specific regions on the sky by low-frequency radio facilities, especially by LOFAR. To estimate the strength of the radio signal, we assume a power-law dependence of the radio luminosity on the total energy release in a magnetically dominated outflow, as found in millisecond pulsars. Based on the planned LOFAR sensitivity at 120 MHz, we estimate that the LOFAR detection rate of such radio transients could be about several events per month from redshifts up to z∼1.3 in the most optimistic scenario. The LOFAR ability to detect such events would crucially depend on exact efficiency of low-frequency radio emission mechanism.     

Modeling fast radio burst heating a main-sequence companion star in a close binary using MESA

The exact origin of fast radio bursts (FRBs) remains a mystery. The repeating fast radio burst source, FRB20200120E, was discovered in a globular cluster containing old stellar populations. Yang (2021) suggested that this FRB might be in close binaries with low-mass main-sequence (MS) stars. They analytically investigated the observational consequences caused by the heating of FRB radio radiation onto the low-mass MS companion star in a close binary, suggesting that the radio radiation emitted by FRB could make the MS companion star more luminous and detectable in future multi-wavelength follow-up observations for a Galactic FRB. We revisited the study of Yang (2021) by numerically modeling the detailed process of FRB heating onto an MS companion with 1D stellar evolution code Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA). Our results are consistent with the trends derived from the analytical model of Yang (2021), except that the typical re-emission luminosities of our main sequence (MS) models, caused by the heating from FRBs, are generally dimmer by about two orders of magnitude compared to his findings, and our models have a longer re-emission timescale. This may indicate that the searches of the optical transients caused by the radio radiation heating companion star are more likely to be successful within a distance of 0.3 Mpc.     

SS Ari: a shallow-contact close binary system

Two CCD epochs of light minimum and a complete R light curve of SS Ari are presented. The light curve obtained in 2007 was analyzed with the 2003 version of the W-D code. It is shown that SS Ari is a shallow contact binary system with a mass ratio q=3.25 and a degree of contact factor f=9.4%(±0.8%). A period investigation based on all available data shows that there may exist two distinct solutions about the assumed third body. One, assuming eccentric orbit of the third body and constant orbital period of the eclipsing pair, results in a massive third body with M ₃=1.73M _⊙ and P ₃=87.0 yr. On the contrary, assuming continuous period changes of the eclipsing pair the orbital period of tertiary is 37.75 yr and its mass is about 0.278M _⊙. Both of the cases suggest the presence of an unseen third component in the system.     

Terrestrial planet formation surrounding close binary stars

Most stars reside in binary/multiple star systems; however, previous models of planet formation have studied growth of bodies orbiting an isolated single star. Disk material has been observed around both components of some young close binary star systems. Additionally, it has been shown that if planets form at the right places within such disks, they can remain dynamically stable for very long times. Herein, we numerically simulate the late stages of terrestrial planet growth in circumbinary disks around ‘close’ binary star systems with stellar separations 0.05 AU?aB?0.4 AU and binary eccentricities 0?eB?0.8. In each simulation, the sum of the masses of the two stars is 1 M_⊙, and giant planets are included. The initial disk of planetary embryos is the same as that used for simulating the late stages of terrestrial planet formation within our Solar System by Chambers [Chambers, J.E., 2001. Icarus 152, 205-224], and around each individual component of the α Centauri AB binary star system by Quintana et al. [Quintana, E.V., Lissauer, J.J., Chambers, J.E., Duncan, M.J., 2002. Astrophys. J. 576, 982-996]. Multiple simulations are performed for each binary star system under study, and our results are statistically compared to a set of planet formation simulations in the Sun-Jupiter-Saturn system that begin with essentially the same initial disk of protoplanets. The planetary systems formed around binaries with apastron distances QB≡aB(1+eB)?0.2 AU are very similar to those around single stars, whereas those with larger maximum separations tend to be sparcer, with fewer planets, especially interior to 1 AU. We also provide formulae that can be used to scale results of planetary accretion simulations to various systems with different total stellar mass, disk sizes, and planetesimal masses and densities.     

Analytic formulas for the mass-transfer rate and the evolution of a close binary system of neutron (degenerate) stars

We derive approximate analytic relations between the mass-transfer rate in a close binary system described in terms of the Roche potential and its basic parameters, such as the total mass of the binary, the radius of its circular orbit, the mass of the mass-losing component, and the degree of its Roche lobe overfilling. Using simplifying assumptions (conservative mass transfer, a short relaxation time of matter on the mass-gaining component compared to the mass-transfer time scale, adiabaticity and quasi-stationarity of the mass flow through the Lagrangian point L ₁) allows the evolution of a binary system of neutron (degenerate) stars to be described in terms of two ordinary differential equations. This makes it possible to qualitatively analyze the evolution process, which is useful in those cases where the evolution of a close binary system must be investigated in general terms, for example, in terms of the scenario for the transformation of the collapse of a rotating presupernova core into a supernova explosion proposed by Imshennik and Nadyozhin (1992) and Imshennik (1992).     

Rotation of close binary system components

The rotation of close binary system components is investigated. The principal physical characteristics as well as the equatorial rotational velocities and the axial and orbital inclinations for 46 close binary systems were determined. It is found that the rotation axes of the individual stars in a pair cross the orbital plane under different angles. As a rule, the rotation and orbital periods of a vast majority of the systems investigated here do not coincide.