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Formal aspects of possible hierarchies within a stellar system

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Abstract

A formalism is proposed, in order to study the hierarchical structures observed in many small stellar systems. Following some descriptive terminology, it is shown that the choice of suitable hierarchical coordinates allows one to keep a simple form of the equations of motion. When the structure is of binary type, every subsystem corresponds to a single equation where the terms describing the two-body approximation for the internal motion of the system are easily separated from those pertaining to the influence of the other subsystems. This type of structure appears likely to present, for small systems, a necessary condition of stability.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecole Nationale d' Electronique et de Radioélectricité Grenoble, France

    J. B. Nugeyre

  2. Geneva Observatory, Sauverny, Switzerland

    P. Bouvier

Authors
  1. J. B. Nugeyre
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  2. P. Bouvier
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Nugeyre, J.B., Bouvier, P. Formal aspects of possible hierarchies within a stellar system. Celestial Mechanics 25, 51–64 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01301806

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01301806

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