Recombination energy in double white dwarf formation
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Issue Date
2015-06-11
Authors
Nandez, Jose L. A.
Ivanova, Natalia
Lombardi, James C., Jr. (Jamie)
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Keywords
equation of state , hydrodynamics , binaries: close , white dwarfs
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Abstract
In this Letter, we investigate the role of recombination energy during a common envelope event. We confirm that taking this energy into account helps to avoid the formation of the circumbinary envelope commonly found in previous studies. For the first time, we can model a complete common envelope event, with a clean compact double white dwarf binary system formed at the end. The resulting binary orbit is almost perfectly circular. In addition to considering recombination energy, we also show that between 1/4 and 1/2 of the released orbital energy is taken away by the ejected material. We apply this new method to the case of the double white dwarf system WD 1101+364, and we find that the progenitor system at the start of the common envelope event consisted of an ∼1.5 M⊙ red giant star in an ∼30 d orbit with a white dwarf companion.
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Physics
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This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters ©: 2015 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Citation
Nandez, J. L. A., N. Ivanova, and J. C. Lombardi. 2015. "Recombination energy in double white dwarf formation." Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters 450, no. 1: L39-L43.
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Published article
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Oxford University Press