Distribution of minima of the current size of the triple systems and their disruption

The dynamical evolution of triple systems has been studied by computer simulations. A function (t) has been defined, where p is the maximum distance of the components from their centre of inertia, and t is the time. The value of is used to indicate the current size of the triple system. The minima of have been followed during the course of evolution of the triples. A distribution of f(_min) has been obtained, which is described by the following statistical parameters: the mode is equal to 0.65d, the mean value _min= 0.750d, r.m.s. is 0.477d, the asymmetry is 0.218, the excess is 2.04 where d is the mean harmonic distance between the bodies in the equilibrium state of the triple system. As a rule, escapes from triples occur only after close three-body approaches.