Tidal interactions in binary stellar systems

The tidal interactions in binary stellar systems are studied under the assumption that the orbital motion of the binary is negligible in comparison with the stellar motion. By integrating over time the tidal forces acting on the stars, the energy changes are derived. These are used to obtain simple analytical expressions for the rates of disruption and merging. This method gives appropriate value for the Roche density ρ_r and it is found that the disruption rate of a satellite of density ρ changes drastically at ρ ρ_R A comparison is made with earlier results obtained under the simplifying assumption that stellar motion is negligible in comparison with the orbital motion of the binary and its implications are discussed.