Related papers: Orbital Circularization of Hot and Cool Kepler Ecl…
Warm Jupiters with orbital periods of $\approx$10-365 d represent a population of giant planets located well within the water ice line but beyond the region of tidal influence of their host star relevant for high-eccentricity tidal…
We have discovered a class of eccentric binary systems within the Kepler data archive that have dynamic tidal distortions and tidally-induced pulsations. Each has a uniquely shaped light curve that is characterized by periodic brightening…
Hot stars with hot Jupiters have a wide range of obliquities, while cool stars with hot Jupiters tend to have low obliquities. An enticing explanation for this pattern is tidal realignment of the cool host stars, although this explanation…
In close eclipsing binaries, measurements of the variations in binary's eclipse timing may be used to infer information about the existence of circumbinary objects. To determine the possibility of the detection of such variations with CoRoT…
We report eclipse timing variation analyses of 26 compact hierarchical triple stars comprised of an eccentric eclipsing ('inner') binary and a relatively close tertiary component found in the {\em Kepler} field. We simultaneously fit the…
The turbulent viscosity of convection is believed to circularize the orbits of close binary stars. When the tidal period is shorter than the turnover time of the largest eddies, turbulent viscosity is believed to be suppressed. The degree…
We simulate the coupled stellar and tidal evolution of short-period binary stars (orbital period $P_{orb} \lsim$8 days) to investigate the orbital oscillations, instellation cycles, and orbital stability of circumbinary planets (CBPs). We…
We measure the binarity of detached M-dwarfs in the Kepler field with orbital periods in the range of 1-90 days. Kepler's photometric precision and nearly continuous monitoring of stellar targets over time baselines ranging from 3 months to…
We analyze the observed distribution of the orbital eccentricity and period of binary radio pulsars in globular clusters using computational tools to simulate binary-single star interactions. Globular clusters have different groups of…
Doppler planet searches have discovered that giant planets follow orbits with a wide range of orbital eccentricities, revolutionizing theories of planet formation. The discovery of hundreds of exoplanet candidates by NASA's Kepler mission…
We present rotation periods for the solar-type primary stars in 13 close (a~< 5 AU) single-lined spectroscopic binaries with known orbital periods (P) and eccentricities (e). All binaries are members of the open clusters M35 (150Myr) and…
Exoplanet searches have discovered a large number of 'hot Jupiters'--high-mass planets orbiting very close to their parent stars in nearly circular orbits. A number of these planets are sufficiently massive and close-in to be significantly…
Main-sequence stars with convective envelopes often appear larger and cooler than predicted by standard models of stellar evolution for their measured masses. This is believed to be caused by stellar activity. In a recent study, accurate…
This paper reviews the rich corpus of observational evidence for tidal effects in short-period binaries. We review the evidence for ellipsoidal variability and for the observational manifestation of apsidal motion in eclipsing binaries.…
Deriving the distribution of binary parameters for a particular class of stars over the full range of orbital separations usually requires the combination of results from many different observing techniques (radial velocities,…
A self-consistent, adiabatic model for the {\it long-time} behaviour of tidal capture binaries is presented. It is shown that most capture orbits behave chaotically, with the eccentricity following a quasi-random walk between the values of…
Stellar rotation is a complex function of mass, metallicity, and age and can be altered by binarity. To understand the importance of these parameters in main sequence stars, we have assembled a sample of observations that spans a range of…
We present a method for finding binaries among pulsating stars that were observed by the Kepler Mission. We use entire four-year light curves to accurately measure the frequencies of the strongest pulsation modes, then track the pulsation…
Tidal interactions influence the orbital motions of binary star systems and extrasolar planets alike. Tides also affect stellar and planetary rotation rates. We demonstrate that in addition to altering spin synchronization and…
Short period (<50 days) low-mass (<10Mearth) exoplanets are abundant and the few of them whose radius and mass have been measured already reveal a diversity in composition. Some of these exoplanets are found on eccentric orbits and are…