Related papers: Kozai cycles, tidal friction and the dynamical evo…
We determine the evolution of a giant planet-disk system that orbits a member of a binary star system and is mildly inclined with respect to the binary orbital plane. The planet orbit and disk are initially mutually coplanar. We analyze the…
The planet formation process and subsequent planet migration may lead to configurations resulting in strong dynamical interactions among the various planets. Well-studied possible outcomes include collisions between planets, scattering…
Half the known extrasolar planets have orbital eccentricities in excess of 0.3. Such large eccentricities are surprising as it is thought that planets form in a protoplanetary disk on nearly circular orbits much like the current states of…
We report several results related to the dynamical evolution of dust produced in the Kuiper Belt (KB). We show that its particle size frequency distribution in space is greatly changed from the distribution at production, as a results of…
Recent theoretical studies suggest that stellar-mass binary black holes (BBHs) would merge more efficiently due to the Kozai-Lidov mechanism if these binaries form in the vicinity of supermassive black holes (SMBHs). Since SMBHs are likely…
There is growing evidence of star formation in the vicinity of supermassive black holes (SMBH) in galactic nuclei. A viable scenario for this process assumes infall of a massive gas cloud towards the SMBH and subsequent formation of a dense…
We discuss motion of a binary system around a supermassive black hole. Using Fermi-Walker transport, we construct a local inertial reference frame and set up a Newtonian binary system. Assuming a circular geodesic observer around a…
In a multiplanet system, tides acting on the inner planet can significantly affect the orbital evolution of the entire system. While tides usually damp eccentricities, a novel mechanism identified by Correia et al. (2012) tends to raise…
We study a hierarchical triple system with the Kozai-Lidov mechanism, and analyse the cumulative shift of periastron time of a binary pulsar by the emission of gravitational waves. Time evolution of the osculating orbital elements of the…
The evolution of a protostellar binary system is investigated while it is embedded in its parent molecular cloud core and acted upon by gas drag due to dynamical friction. Approximate analytical results are obtained for the energy and…
Highly eccentric binary systems appear in many astrophysical contexts, ranging from tidal capture in dense star clusters, precursors of stellar disruption by massive black holes, to high-eccentricity migration of giant planets. In a highly…
We have investigated i) the formation of gravitationally bounded pairs of gas-giant planets (which we call "binary planets") from capturing each other through planet-planet dynamical tide during their close encounters and ii) the following…
Tidal friction is thought to be important in determining the long-term spin-orbit evolution of short-period extrasolar planetary systems. Using a simple model of the orbit-averaged effects of tidal friction, we study the evolution of…
Many hot Jupiter (HJ) systems have been observed to have their stellar spin axis misaligned with the planet's orbital angular momentum axis. The origin of this spin-orbit misalignment and the formation mechanism of HJs remain poorly…
Most stars are born in clusters and the resulting gravitational interactions between cluster members may significantly affect the evolution of circumstellar discs and therefore the formation of planets and brown dwarfs. Recent findings…
Dense stellar clusters are natural sites for the origin and evolution of exotic objects such as relativistic binaries (potential gravitational wave sources), blue stragglers, etc. We investigate the secular dynamics of a binary system…
The secular approximation for the evolution of hierarchical triple configurations has proven to be very useful in many astrophysical contexts, from planetary to triple-star systems. In this approximation the orbits may change shape and…
White dwarf-white dwarf (WD-WD) and neutron star-neutron star (NS-NS) mergers may produce Type Ia supernovae and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), respectively. A general problem is how to produce binaries with semi-major axes small enough to in…
Satellites of asteroids have been discovered in nearly every known small body population, and a remarkable aspect of the known satellites is the diversity of their properties. They tell a story of vast differences in formation and evolution…
Many planets are observed in stellar binary systems, and their frequency may be comparable to that of planetary systems around single stars. Binary stellar evolution in such systems influences the dynamical evolution of the resident…