2,762 research outputs found
Fun for Two
We performed populations synthesis calculations of single stars and binaries
and show that binary evolution is extremely important for Galactic astronomy.
We review several binary evolution models and conclude that they give quite
different results. These differences can be understood from the assumptions
related to how mass is transfered in the binary systems. Most important are 1)
the fraction of mass that is accreted by the companion star during mass
transfer, 2) the amount of specific angular momentum which is carried away with
the mass that leaves the binary system.Comment: 7 pages, 0 figures to appear in the proceeding of the IAU Symposium
200, "The Formation of Binary Stars" eds. H. Zinnecker and R. Mathie
Black hole mergers in the universe
Mergers of black-hole binaries are expected to release large amounts of
energy in the form of gravitational radiation. However, binary evolution models
predict merger rates too low to be of observational interest. In this paper we
explore the possibility that black holes become members of close binaries via
dynamical interactions with other stars in dense stellar systems. In star
clusters, black holes become the most massive objects within a few tens of
millions of years; dynamical relaxation then causes them to sink to the cluster
core, where they form binaries. These black-hole binaries become more tightly
bound by superelastic encounters with other cluster members, and are ultimately
ejected from the cluster. The majority of escaping black-hole binaries have
orbital periods short enough and eccentricities high enough that the emission
of gravitational radiation causes them to coalesce within a few billion years.
We predict a black-hole merger rate of about per year per
cubic megaparsec, implying gravity wave detection rates substantially greater
than the corresponding rates from neutron star mergers. For the first
generation Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO-I), we
expect about one detection during the first two years of operation. For its
successor LIGO-II, the rate rises to roughly one detection per day. The
uncertainties in these numbers are large. Event rates may drop by about an
order of magnitude if the most massive clusters eject their black hole binaries
early in their evolution.Comment: 12 pages, ApJL in pres
On the Interpretation of the Age Distribution of Star Clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud
We re-analyze the age distribution (dN/dt) of star clusters in the Small
Magellanic Cloud (SMC) using age determinations based on the Magellanic Cloud
Photometric Survey. For ages younger than 3x10^9 yr the dN/dt distribution can
be approximated by a power-law distribution, dN/dt propto t^-beta, with
-beta=-0.70+/-0.05 or -beta=-0.84+/-0.04, depending on the model used to derive
the ages. Predictions for a cluster population without dissolution limited by a
V-band detection result in a power-law dN/dt distribution with an index of
~-0.7. This is because the limiting cluster mass increases with age, due to
evolutionary fading of clusters, reducing the number of observed clusters at
old ages. When a mass cut well above the limiting cluster mass is applied, the
dN/dt distribution is flat up to 1 Gyr. We conclude that cluster dissolution is
of small importance in shaping the dN/dt distribution and incompleteness causes
dN/dt to decline. The reason that no (mass independent) infant mortality of
star clusters in the first ~10-20 Myr is found is explained by a detection bias
towards clusters without nebular emission, i.e. cluster that have survived the
infant mortality phase. The reason we find no evidence for tidal (mass
dependent) cluster dissolution in the first Gyr is explained by the weak tidal
field of the SMC. Our results are in sharp contrast to the interpretation of
Chandar et al. (2006), who interpret the declining dN/dt distribution as rapid
cluster dissolution. This is due to their erroneous assumption that the sample
is limited by cluster mass, rather than luminosity.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Star cluster ecology IVa: Dissection of an open star cluster---photometry
The evolution of star clusters is studied using N-body simulations in which
the evolution of single stars and binaries are taken self-consistently into
account. Initial conditions are chosen to represent relatively young Galactic
open clusters, such as the Pleiades, Praesepe and the Hyades. The calculations
include a realistic mass function, primordial binaries and the external
potential of the parent Galaxy. Our model clusters are generally significantly
flattened in the Galactic tidal field, and dissolve before deep core collapse
occurs. The binary fraction decreases initially due to the destruction of soft
binaries, but increases later because lower mass single stars escape more
easily than the more massive binaries. At late times, the cluster core is quite
rich in giants and white dwarfs. There is no evidence for preferential
evaporation of old white dwarfs, on the contrary the formed white dwarfs are
likely to remain in the cluster. Stars tend to escape from the cluster through
the first and second Lagrange points, in the direction of and away from the
Galactic center. Mass segregation manifests itself in our models well within an
initial relaxation time. As expected, giants and white dwarfs are much more
strongly affected by mass segregation than main-sequence stars. Open clusters
are dynamically rather inactive. However, the combined effect of stellar mass
loss and evaporation of stars from the cluster potential drives its dissolution
on a much shorter timescale than if these effects are neglected. The often-used
argument that a star cluster is barely older than its relaxation time and
therefore cannot be dynamically evolved is clearly in error for the majority of
star clusters.Comment: reduced abstract, 33 pages (three separate color .jpg figures),
submitted to MNRA
The gravitational wave signal from the Galactic disk population of binaries containing two compact objects
We review the properties of Galactic binaries containing two compact objects,
as derived by means of population synthesis. Using this information we
calculate the gravitational wave signal of these binaries. At frequencies below
f ~< 2 mHz the double white dwarf population forms an unresolved background for
the low-frequency gravitational wave detector LISA. Above this limit some few
thousand double white dwarfs and few tens of binaries containing neutron stars
will be resolved. Of the resolved double white dwarfs ~500 have a total mass
above the Chandrasekhar limit. About ~95 of these have a measurable frequency
change allowing a determination of their chirp mass. We discuss the properties
of the resolved systems.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
Weakly admissible H-calculus on reflexive Banach spaces
AbstractWe show that, given a reflexive Banach space and a generator of an exponentially stable C0-semigroup, a weakly admissible operator g(A) can be defined for any g bounded, analytic function on the left half-plane. This yields an (unbounded) functional calculus. The construction uses a Toeplitz operator and is motivated by system theory. In separable Hilbert spaces, we even get admissibility. Furthermore, it is investigated when a bounded calculus can be guaranteed. For this we introduce the new notion of exact observability by direction
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