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Title:
Dynamical Effects Dominate the Evolution of Cataclysmic Variables in Dense Star Clusters
Authors:
Shara, Michael M.; Hurley, Jarrod R.
Affiliation:
AA(Department of Astrophysics, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024; ), AB(Centre for Stellar and Planetary Astrophysics, School of Mathematical Sciences, Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia; )
Publication:
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 646, Issue 1, pp. 464-473. (ApJ Homepage)
Publication Date:
07/2006
Origin:
UCP
ApJ Keywords:
Galaxy: Globular Clusters: General, Methods: n-Body Simulations, Stars: Novae, Cataclysmic Variables, Galaxy: Open Clusters and Associations: General, Stellar Dynamics
DOI:
10.1086/504679
Bibliographic Code:
2006ApJ...646..464S

Abstract

Strong interactions between the single and binary stars in the cores of dense clusters often cause the binaries' semimajor axes to contract. These ``hardened'' binaries are potent dynamical energy sources. Once significant physical interaction between a binary's components begins (e.g., mass transfer), the stellar evolution of that binary is intimately linked to the dynamical evolution of all the stars in the cluster. We self-consistently simulate the stellar dynamics, and binary and single-star evolution of a 100,000 star cluster with 5000 primordial binaries. The production of very close binaries containing a white dwarf is enhanced over that in the field; we focus on their formation, evolution, and fate. We report on a class of utterly novel CVs that never undergo a common envelope phase but are instead formed in exchange reactions. Exchange interactions are more likely to make CVs in which the main-sequence star mass is greater than 0.7 Msolar, as opposed to CVs with low-mass donors. These dynamically produced CVs are more likely to be short-lived than their field counterparts. We find that the shorter lives of CVs in the harsh cluster environment decrease the expected number of CVs, at any given time, by a factor of 3. Finally, we provide the first self-consistent simulation of the period distribution of dynamics-dominated cataclysmic variables. We predict that there will be no 2-3 hour period gap for cluster CVs; the gap is smeared out by dynamical interactions of CVs with cluster stars.
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