Related papers: Long-term Stable Equilibria for Synchronous Binary…
Durda et al. (2004), using numerical models, suggested that binary asteroids with large separation, called Escaping Ejecta Binaries (EEBs), can be created by fragments ejected from a disruptive impact event. It is thought that six binary…
The rotational distribution of asteroids as a function of their size is used {as a diagnostic of} their physical properties and evolution. Recent photometric surveys from the Gaia mission, allowing observation of asteroids with long spin…
The discovery that many trans-neptunian objects exist in pairs, or binaries, is proving invaluable for shedding light on the formation, evolution and structure of the outer Solar system. Based on recent systematic searches it has been…
With $n$-body simulations we investigate the stability of tilted circumbinary planetary systems consisting of two nonzero mass planets. The planets are initially in circular orbits that are coplanar to each other, as would be expected if…
We show that under certain astrophysical conditions a binary system consisting of two compact objects can be stabilized against indefinite shrinking of orbits due to the emission of gravitational radiation. In this case, the lighter binary…
The overall shape, internal structure and surface morphology of small bodies such as asteroids and comets are determined to a large degree by the last global-scale impact or disruption event. Depending on the specific energy, impacts lead…
We study the excitation and damping of tides in close binary systems, accounting for the leading order nonlinear corrections to linear tidal theory. These nonlinear corrections include two distinct effects: three-mode nonlinear interactions…
"Hard" massive black hole (MBH) binaries embedded in steep stellar cusps can shrink via three-body slingshot interactions. We show that this process will inevitably be accompanied by a burst of stellar tidal disruptions, at a rate that can…
We present a physical model and spin-state analysis of the potentially hazardous asteroid (23187) 2000 PN9. As part of a long-term campaign to make direct detections of the YORP effect, we collected optical lightcurves of the asteroid…
We study tidal interactions in white dwarf binaries in the limiting case of quasi-static tides. The formalism is valid for arbitrary orbital eccentricities and therefore applicable to white dwarf binaries in the Galactic disk as well as…
Tidal torques can alter the spins of tidally interacting stars and planets, usually over shorter timescales than the tidal damping of orbital separations or eccentricities. Simple tidal models predict that, in eccentric binary or planetary…
With the discovery of Kuiper Belt binaries that have wide separations and roughly equal masses new theories were proposed to explain their formation. Two formation scenarios were suggested by Goldreich and collaborators: In the first,…
Equilibrium fluid configurations for close binary systems can become {\em globally unstable\/}. Instabilities arise from the strong tidal interaction between the two components, which tends to make the effective two-body potential governing…
The rapid circularization and synchronization of the stellar components in an eccentric binary system at the onset of Roche lobe overflow (RLO) is a fundamental assumption common to all binary stellar evolution and population synthesis…
We investigate interactions of stellar binaries in galactic nuclear clusters with a massive black hole (MBH). We consider binaries on highly eccentric orbits around the MBH that change due to random gravitational interactions with other…
A rotating frequency analysis in a previous paper, showed that two samples of C and S-type asteroids belonging to the Main Belt, but not to any families, present two different values for the transition diameter to a Maxwellian distribution…
We study a non-dissipative hydrodynamical mechanism that can stabilize the spin of the accretor in an ultra-compact double white dwarf binary. This novel synchronization mechanism relies on a nonlinear wave interaction spinning down the…
We present a semi-analytic study of the equilibrium models of close binary systems containing a fluid star (mass $m$ and radius $R_0$) and a Kerr black hole (mass $M$) in circular orbit. We consider the limit $M\gg m$ where spacetime is…
Close-in planets undergo strong tidal interactions with the parent star that modify their spins and orbits. In the two-body problem, the final stage for tidal evolution is the synchronisation of the rotation and orbital periods, and the…
Hills breakup of binary systems allows massive black holes (MBH) to produce hyper-velocity stars (HVSs) and tightly bound stars. The long timescale of orbital relaxation means that binaries must spend numerous orbits around the MBH before…