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We present numerical simulations of the gravitational three-body problem, in which three particles lie at rest close to the vertices of an equilateral triangle. In the unperturbed problem, the three particles fall towards the center of mass of the system to form a three-body collision, or singularity, where the particles overlap in space and time. By perturbing the initial positions of the particles, we are able to study chaos in the vicinity of the singularity. Here we cover both the singular region close to the unperturbed configuration and the binary-single scattering regime where one side of the triangle is very short compared to the other two. We make phase space plots to study the regular and ergodic subsets of our simulations and compare them with the outcomes expected from the statistical escape theory of the three-body problem. We further provide fits to the ergodic subset to characterize the properties of the left-over binaries. We identify the discrepancy between the statistical theory and the simulations in the regular subset of interactions, which only exhibits weak chaos. As we decrease the scale of the perturbations in the initial positions, the phase space becomes entirely dominated by regular interactions, according to our metric for chaos. Finally, we show the effect of general relativity corrections by simulating the same scenario with the inclusion of post-Newtonian corrections to the equations of motion.

We present a novel method to constrain the past collisional evolution of observed globular cluster (GC) systems, in particular their mass functions. We apply our method to a pair of galaxies hypothesized to have recently undergone an episode of violent relaxation due to a strong galaxy–galaxy interaction, namely, NGC 1052-DF2 and NGC 1052-DF4. We begin by exploring the observational evidence for a collisional origin for these two recently discovered ultradiffuse galaxies observed in the NGC 1052 group, posited in the literature to be dark matter free. We compute the timescales for infall to the central nucleus due to dynamical friction for the GCs in these galaxies, using the shortest of these times to constrain how long ago a galaxy–galaxy interaction could have occurred. We go on to quantify the initial GC numbers and densities needed for significant collisional evolution to occur within the allotted times and show that, if the hypothesis of a previous galaxy–galaxy interaction is correct, a paucity of low-mass GCs should be revealed by deeper observational surveys. If any are found, they should be more spatially extended than the currently observed GC population. Finally, we apply our method to these galaxies, in order to illustrate its efficacy in constraining their dynamical evolution. Our results motivate more complete observations of the GC luminosity functions in these galaxies, in addition to future studies aimed at combining the method presented here with a suite of numerical simulations in order to further constrain the origins of the curious GC populations in these (and other) galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the role of the Keplerian tidal field generated by a supermassive black hole (SMBH) on the three-body dynamics of stellar mass black holes. We consider two scenarios occurring close to the SMBH: the breakup of unstable triples and three-body encounters between a binary and a single. These two cases correspond to the hard and soft binary cases, respectively. The tidal field affects the breakup of triples by tidally limiting the system, so that the triples break earlier with lower breakup velocity, leaving behind slightly larger binaries (relative to the isolated case). The breakup direction becomes anisotropic and tends to follow the shape of the Hill region of the triple, favoring breakups in the radial direction. Furthermore, the tidal field can torque the system, leading to angular momentum exchanges between the triple and its orbit around the SMBH. This process changes the properties of the final binary, depending on the initial angular momentum of the triple. Finally, the tidal field also affects binary-single encounters: binaries tend to become both harder and more eccentric with respect to encounters that occur in isolation. Consequently, single-binary scattering in a deep Keplerian potential produces binaries with shorter gravitational wave merger timescales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies show that the majority of blue straggler stars (BSSs) in old open clusters are formed through mass transfer from an evolved star onto a main-sequence companion, resulting in a BSS and white dwarf (WD) in a binary system. We present constraints on the mass transfer histories of two BSS–WD binaries in the open cluster NGC 188, using WD temperatures and surface gravities measured with Hubble Space Telescope COS far-ultraviolet spectroscopy. Adopting a Gaia-based cluster distance of 1847 ± 107 pc, we determine that one system, WOCS 4540, formed through Case C mass transfer resulting in a CO-core WD with Teff = K and a log g = , corresponding to a mass of M⊙ and a cooling age of Myr. The other system, WOCS 5379, formed through Case B mass transfer resulting in a He-core WD with Teff = K and a log g = , corresponding to a mass of M⊙ and an age of Myr. The WD parameters are consistent across four different cluster distance assumptions. We determine possible progenitor binary systems with a grid of accretion models using MESA, and investigate whether these systems would lead to stable or unstable mass transfer. WOCS 4540 likely resulted from stable mass transfer during periastron passage in an eccentric binary system, while WOCS 5379 challenges our current understanding of the expected outcomes for mass transfer from red giant branch stars. Both systems are examples of the value in using detailed analyses to fine-tune our physical understanding of binary evolutionary processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The merger rate of stellar-mass black hole binaries (sBHBs) inferred by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) suggests the need for an efficient source of sBHB formation. Active galactic nucleus (AGN) disks are a promising location for the formation of these sBHBs, as well as binaries of other compact objects, because of powerful torques exerted by the gas disk. These gas torques cause orbiting compact objects to migrate toward regions in the disk where inward and outward torques cancel, known as migration traps. We simulate the migration of stellar mass black holes in an example of a model AGN disk, using an augmented N-body code that includes analytic approximations to migration torques, stochastic gravitational forces exerted by turbulent density fluctuations in the disk, and inclination and eccentricity dampening produced by passages through the gas disk, in addition to the standard gravitational forces between objects. We find that sBHBs form rapidly in our model disk as stellar-mass black holes migrate toward the migration trap. These sBHBs are likely to subsequently merge on short timescales. The process continues, leading to the build-up of a population of over-massive stellar-mass black holes. The formation of sBHBs in AGN disks could contribute significantly to the sBHB merger rate inferred by LIGO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we consider a scenario in which the currently observed hypervelocity stars in our Galaxy have been ejected from the Galactic center as a result of dynamical interactions with an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) orbiting the central supermassive black hole (SMBH). By performing three-body scattering experiments, we calculate the distribution of the ejected stars’ velocities given various parameters of the IMBH–SMBH binary: IMBH mass, semimajor axis, and eccentricity. We also calculate the rates of change of the BH binary orbital elements due to those stellar ejections. One of our new findings is that the ejection rate depends (although mildly) on the rotation of the stellar nucleus (its total angular momentum). We also compare the ejection velocity distribution with that produced by the Hills mechanism (stellar binary disruption) and find that the latter produces faster stars on average. Also, the IMBH mechanism produces an ejection velocity distribution that is flattened toward the BH binary plane, while the Hills mechanism produces a spherically symmetric one. The results of this paper will allow us in the future to model the ejection of stars by an evolving BH binary and compare both models with Gaia observations, for a wide variety of environments (galactic nuclei, globular clusters, the Large Magellanic Clouds, etc.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

About a century ago, Jeans (1919) discovered that if binary stars reach a state approximating energy equipartition, for example, through many dynamical encounters that exchange energy, their eccentricity distribution can be described by . This is referred to as the thermal eccentricity distribution, and has been widely used for initial conditions in theoretical investigations of binary stars. However, observations suggest that the eccentricity distributions of most observed binaries, and particularly those with masses ≲5 M⊙, are flatter than thermal and follow more closely to a uniform distribution. Nonetheless, it is often argued that dynamical interactions in a star cluster would quickly thermalize the binaries, which could justify imposing a thermal eccentricity distribution at birth for all binaries. In this paper, we investigate the validity of this assumption. We develop our own rapid semi-analytic model for binary evolution in star clusters, and also compare it with detailed N-body and Monte Carlo star cluster models. We show that, for nearly all binaries, dynamical encounters fail to convert an initially uniform eccentricity distribution to thermal within a star cluster’s lifetime. Thus, if a thermal eccentricity distribution is observed, it is likely imprinted upon formation rather than through subsequent long-term dynamical processing. Theoretical investigations that initialize all binaries with a thermal distribution will make incorrect predictions for the evolution of the binary population. Such models may overpredict the merger rate for binaries with modest orbital separations by a factor of about two. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a semi-analytic model for self-consistently evolving a population of globular clusters (GCs) in a given host galaxy across cosmic time. We compute the fraction of GCs still hosting intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) at a given redshift in early and late -type galaxies of different masses and sizes, and the corresponding rate of tidal disruption events (TDEs), both main-sequence (MS) and white dwarf (WD) stars. We find that the integrated TDE rate for the entire GC population can exceed the corresponding rate in a given galactic nucleus and that ∼90% of the TDEs reside in GCs within a maximum radius of ∼2–15 kpc from the host galaxy’s center. This suggests that observational efforts designed to identify TDEs should not confine themselves to galactic nuclei alone, but should also consider the outer galactic halo where massive old GCs hosting IMBHs would reside. Indeed, such off-center TDEs as predicted here may already have been observed. MS TDE rates are more common than WD TDE rates by a factor of 30 (100) at z ≤ 0.5 (z = 2). We also calculate the rate of IMBH-SBH mergers across cosmic time, finding that the typical IMRI rate at low redshift is of the order of ∼0.5–3 Gpc−3 yr−1, which becomes as high as ∼100 Gpc−3 yr−1 near the peak of GC formation. Advanced LIGO, combined with VIRGO, KAGRA, the Einstein Telescope, and LISA will be able to observe the bottom end and top end of the IMBH population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sub-subgiants (SSGs) are a new class of stars that are optically redder than normal main-sequence stars and fainter than normal subgiant stars. SSGs, as well as the possibly related red stragglers (which fall to the red of the giant branch), occupy a region of the color–magnitude diagram that is predicted to be devoid of stars by standard stellar evolution theory. In previous papers we presented the observed demographics of these sources and defined possible theoretical formation channels through isolated binary evolution, the rapid stripping of a subgiant’s envelope, and stellar collisions. SSGs offer key tests for single- and binary-star evolution and stellar collision models. In this paper, we synthesize these findings to discuss the formation frequencies through each of these channels. The empirical data, our analytic formation rate calculations, and analyses of SSGs in a large grid of Monte Carlo globular cluster models suggest that the binary evolution channels may be the most prevalent, though all channels appear to be viable routes to SSG creation (especially in higher-mass globular clusters). Multiple formation channels may operate simultaneously to produce the observed SSG population. Finally, many of these formation pathways can produce stars in both the SSG and red straggler (and blue straggler) regions of the color–magnitude diagram, in some cases as different stages along the same evolutionary sequence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sub-subgiants are stars that are observed to be redder than normal main-sequence stars and fainter than normal subgiant (and giant) stars in an optical color–magnitude diagram (CMD). The red straggler stars, which lie redward of the red giant branch, may be related and are often grouped together with the sub-subgiants in the literature. These stars defy our standard theory of single-star evolution and are important tests for binary evolution and stellar collision models. In total, we identify 65 sub-subgiants (SSG) and red stragglers (RS) in 16 open and globular star clusters from the literature; 50 of these, including 43 sub-subgiants, pass our strict membership selection criteria (though the remaining sources may also be cluster members). In addition to their unique location on the CMD, we find that at least 58% (25/43) of sub-subgiants in this sample are X-ray sources with typical 0.5–2.5 keV luminosities of order 1030–1031 erg s−1. Their X-ray luminosities and optical–to–X-ray flux ratios are similar to those of RS CVn active binaries. At least 65% (28/43) of the sub-subgiants in our sample are variables, 21 of which are known to be radial-velocity binaries. Typical variability periods are ≲15 days. At least 33% (14/43) of the sub-subgiants are Hα emitters. These observational demographics provide strong evidence that binarity is important for sub-subgiant formation. Finally, we find that the number of sub-subgiants per unit mass increases toward lower-mass clusters, such that the open clusters in our sample have the highest specific frequencies of sub-subgiants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider a novel mechanism to account for the observed distance-redshift relation. This is done by presenting a toy model for the large-scale matter distribution in a static Universe. Our model mainly concerns particles with masses far below those in the Standard Model of Particle Physics. The model is founded on three main assumptions: (1) a mass spectrum / (where α and β are both positive constants) for low-mass particles with eV MP, where MP is the Planck mass; (2) a particle mass-wavelength relation of the form /c, where and η and γ are both constants; and (3) for such low-mass particles, locality can only be defined on large spatial scales, comparable to or exceeding the particle wavelengths. We use our model to derive the cosmological redshift characteristic of the Standard Model of Cosmology, which becomes a gravitational redshift in our model. We compare the results of our model to empirical data and show that, in order to reproduce the sub-linear form of the observed distance-redshift relation, our model requires . We further place our toy model in the context of the Friedmann Universe via a superposition of Einstein Universes, each with its own scale factor ai. Given the overwhelming evidence supporting an expanding Universe, we then address possible modifications to our base model that would be required to account for the available empirical constraints, including the addition of some initial expansion. Finally, we consider potentially observable distinctions between the cosmological redshift and our proposed mechanism to account for the observed distance-redshift relation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Binary mass transfer (MT) is at the forefront of some of the most exciting puzzles of modern astrophysics, including SNe Ia, gamma-ray bursts, and the formation of most observed exotic stellar populations. Typically, the evolution is assumed to proceed in isolation, even in dense stellar environments such as star clusters. In this paper, we test the validity of this assumption via the analysis of a large grid of binary evolution models simulated with the SeBa code. For every binary, we calculate analytically the mean time until another single or binary star comes within the mean separation of the mass-transferring binary, and compare this timescale to the mean time for stable MT to occur. We then derive the probability for each respective binary to experience a direct dynamical interruption. The resulting probability distribution can be integrated to give an estimate for the fraction of binaries undergoing MT that are expected to be disrupted as a function of the host cluster properties. We find that for lower-mass clusters ( ), on the order of a few to a few tens of percent of binaries undergoing MT are expected to be interrupted by an interloping single, or more often binary, star, over the course of the cluster lifetime, whereas in more massive globular clusters we expect to be interrupted. Furthermore, using numerical scattering experiments performed with the FEWBODY code, we show that the probability of interruption increases if perturbative fly-bys are considered as well, by a factor ∼2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]