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Photograph of Ross Church

Ross Church

Senior lecturer

Photograph of Ross Church

Detailed models of the binary pulsars J1141-6545 and B2303+46

Author

  • Ross P. Church
  • Stephanie J. Bush
  • Christopher A. Tout
  • Melvyn B Davies

Summary, in English

We have modelled the formation of the eccentric double-degenerate binaries J1141-6545 and B2303+46 using the Henyey-type full stellar evolution code STARS and the population synthesis code BSE. We find that the outcome depends strongly on the common envelope (CE) evolution efficiency parameter alpha(CE) and show that both systems can be modelled with a single value of alpha(CE). The final orbit of the system depends critically on the order of Roche lobe filling events. The phase space of progenitors and the different evolutionary pathways followed by binary stars that form eccentric double-degenerate binaries in the two codes are compared. We show that the pathways are similar between the codes and that the distribution of progenitors in mass and separation phase space is qualitatively the same, thus validating the use of BSE-like population synthesis for simulations of this type. The phase space of initial parameters is very different to that obtained using ad hoc arguments about the evolution, which shows that such arguments are insufficient to model evolutionary pathways of this complexity. There are some differences associated with the prescription adopted for CE evolution but these are not qualitatively significant. We investigate the dependence of the formation mechanism on wind mass loss and the CE efficiency parameter alpha(CE), showing that it depends strongly on the latter but rather less on the former.

Department/s

  • Lund Observatory - Has been reorganised

Publishing year

2006

Language

English

Pages

715-727

Publication/Series

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Volume

372

Issue

2

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Topic

  • Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

Keywords

  • pulsars : individual
  • binaries : close
  • stars : evolution
  • pulsars : individual : B2303+46
  • J1141-6545

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1365-2966