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The Post-Supernova Stage of Massive Close Binaries: The Possibility of a Tidal Instability
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 August 2015
Abstract
It has been proposed that tidal interaction is the mechanism which restored the circular orbits of X-ray binaries after the supernova explosions which produced the compact components in those systems. (Lea and Margon, 1973; Sutantyo, 1974). This implies that the primaries must possess large viscosity in order to provide large energy dissipation rates required in this process. At the end of this process the system reaches a stable synchronous and circular orbit. If this hypothesis is true, there will be further consequence of the strong tidal interaction during the later stages of evolution of the system. The gradually changing structure of the primary during the post main-sequence stages will continuously disturb the stability of the orbit. There will be transfer of angular momentum from the orbital motion into the rotation or vice versa through the tidal interaction. At a certain stage, the radius of the primary exceeds a critical radius, the orbit becomes unstable and synchronism becomes impossible. The compact component will be spiralling down onto and into the primary as proposed by Sparks and Stecher (1974).
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- Copyright © Reidel 1976
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