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The decay of triple systems

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Abstract

Numerical simulations have been carried out in the general three-body problem with equal masses with zero initial velocities, to investigate the distribution of the decay times T based on a representative sample of initial conditions. The distribution has a power-law character on long time scales, f(T) ∝ T −α, with α = 1.74. Over small times T < 30T cr (T cr is the mean crossing time for a component of the triple system), a series of local maxima separated by about 1.0T cr is observed in the decay-time distribution. These local peaks correspond to zones of decay after one or a few triple encounters. Figures showing the arrangement of these zones in the domain of the initial conditions are presented.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. St. Petersburg State Forestry University, St. Petersburg, Russia

    A. I. Martynova

  2. St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia

    V. V. Orlov

  3. Main (Pulkovo) Astronomical Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia

    V. V. Orlov

Authors
  1. A. I. Martynova
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  2. V. V. Orlov
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Correspondence to V. V. Orlov.

Additional information

Original Russian Text © A.I. Martynova, V.V. Orlov, 2014, published in Astronomicheskii Zhurnal, 2014, Vol. 91, No. 10, pp. 857–868.

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Martynova, A.I., Orlov, V.V. The decay of triple systems. Astron. Rep. 58, 756–766 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063772914100084

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063772914100084

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