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ABSTRACT Dynamical interactions involving binaries play a crucial role in the evolution of star clusters and galaxies. We continue our investigation of the hydrodynamics of three-body encounters, focusing on binary black hole (BBH) formation, stellar disruption, and electromagnetic (EM) emission in dynamical interactions between a BH-star binary and a stellar-mass BH, using the moving-mesh hydrodynamics code AREPO. This type of encounters can be divided into two classes depending on whether the final outcome includes BBHs. This outcome is primarily determined by which two objects meet at the first closest approach. BBHs are more likely to form when the star and the incoming BH encounter first with an impact parameter smaller than the binary’s semimajor axis. In this case, the star is frequently disrupted. On the other hand, when the two BHs encounter first, frequent consequences are an orbit perturbation of the original binary or a binary member exchange. For the parameters chosen in this study, BBH formation, accompanied by stellar disruption, happens in roughly one out of four encounters. The close correlation between BBH formation and stellar disruption has possible implications for EM counterparts at the binary’s merger. The BH that disrupts the star is promptly surrounded by an optically and geometrically thick disc with accretion rates exceeding the Eddington limit. If the debris disc cools fast enough to become long-lived, EM counterparts can be produced at the time of the BBH merger.
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This content will become publicly available on October 1, 2026
The Origins & Reservoirs of Exocomets
Abstract Small bodies exist in distinct populations within their planetary systems. These reservoir populations hold a range of compositions, which to first order are dependent on formation location relative to their star. We provide a general overview of the nature of the reservoirs that source exocomets, from the influence of the stellar environment through planetesimal formation to comparisons with Solar System populations. Once transitioned from a young protoplanetary disc to a debris disc, a star can expect to be rained with exocomets. While exocomets are predominantly detected to date at A-type stars, planetesimals plausibly exist across a range of stellar masses, based on exoplanet abundance, debris disc occurrence and white dwarf infall.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2303553
- PAR ID:
- 10646048
- Publisher / Repository:
- Springer Nature
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Space Science Reviews
- Volume:
- 221
- Issue:
- 7
- ISSN:
- 0038-6308
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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