A Statistical Theory of the Disruption of Three-Body Systems -- I: LOW ANGULAR MOMENTUM

Abstract

A strongly interacting three-body system generally breaks up into a binary and a single-escaping particle. The statistical properties of the binary and the escaper are here determined by making the statistical assumption that the probability of a configuration is proportional to the associated volume of phase space. Only low angular momentum cases are considered, and angular momentum conservation is not taken into account. For plane motion the theory predicts the statistical properties of the binary very well, but is only in qualitative agreement with the statistical properties of the escaping particle.