Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · 1994 · 45 citations · 0 references
Natural SciencesAstronomyPhysicsAstrophysicsDynamical SystemsStellar AstronomyBinary Star DynamicsBinary Star OrbitsBinary Star SystemsStability Of OrbitsStellar DynamicsStellar EvolutionBinary Star EvolutionBinary Stellar EvolutionCircular OrbitsDynamical Systems StabilityLong-period Binary OrbitsOrbital Period EvolutionStability Of Binary SystemsStellar Stability
We compute the dynamical evolution of hierarchical triple stars in which both orbits are initially circular, and determine the lower limit to the ratio of periods (outer/inner) for which there is dynamical stability. This ranges from 6.3 to 2.4, as the distant body's mass (in units of the inner binary) ranges from 100 to 0.01. We discuss a variety of types of behaviour that we find when the period ratio varies near its critical value.