Search arXiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · astro-ph/9502028

THE MINIMUM MASS RATIO OF W URSAE MAJORIS BINARIES

Frederic A. Rasio
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

The minimum mass ratio for tidal stability of a contact binary containing two unevolved main-sequence stars is calculated to be $\qmin\simeq0.09$ in the case of a mostly radiative primary, and is higher if an appreciable fraction of the mass lies in a convective envelope. At least one observed system, AW UMa, has a mass ratio just below this value ($q=0.075$), implying, if the system is stable, that the primary must be slightly evolved and must have a very shallow convective envelope. Contact binaries with mass ratios significantly below that of AW UMa should not be observed, since they are tidally unstable and quickly merge into a single, rapidly rotating object, on a timescale $\sim10^3$--$10^4\,$yr.

Explore related subjects

astro-ph

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Frederic A. Rasio. 1995-02-06. THE MINIMUM MASS RATIO OF W URSAE MAJORIS BINARIES. https://doi.org/10.1086/187855

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Cosmic Conundrums with Quantum Corrections

Darh energy was discovered over 25 years ago and we do not have an explanation of it. Dark matter comprises 95% of matter in the universe and we still don't know what it is. The Webb telescope has been finding fully formed galaxies with massive black holes millions of times the mass of the sun in the early universe and we don't have any explanation. A quantum density limitation will be used to solve these and other outstanding problems.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2026

On binary pulsars and the force of gravity

The energy-momentum budget of the astrophysical systems can be studied by the exact local conservation equation derived by Landau and Lifshitz. We show that a similar equation is valid for the Einstein-Cartan gravity. We reanalyze a binary pulsar system using the Landau-Lifshitz conservation equation and show that the orbital period change rate can be completely understood as a curvature backreaction process. Taking into account the detailed theoretical and observational research of relativistic binary pulsar systems, especially the system of Hulse and Taylor, we conclude that general relativity and astrophysical observations rule out the existence of gravitational radiation. We comment upon the LIGO GW events and their alternative explanation, as well as the recent pulsar timing arrays data.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2026

Oscillation frequencies and mode lifetimes in alpha Centauri A

We analyse our recently-published velocity measurements of alpha Cen A (Butler et al. 2004). After adjusting the weights on a night-by-night basis in order to optimize the window function to minimize sidelobes, we extract 42 oscillation frequencies with l=0 to 3 and measure the large and small frequency separations. We give fitted relations to these frequencies that can be compared with theoretical models and conclude that the observed scatter about these fits is due to the finite lifetimes of the oscillation modes. We estimate the mode lifetimes to be 1-2 d, substantially shorter than in the Sun.

astro-ph↗