Related papers: Analytical models for secular descents in hierarch…

Since exoplanets were detected using the radial velocity method, they have revealed a diverse distribution of orbital configurations. Amongst these are planets in highly eccentric orbits (e > 0.5). Most of these systems consist of a single…

The quadrupole Kozai mechanism, which describes the hierarchical three-body problem in the leading order, is shown to be equivalent to a simple pendulum where the change in the eccentricity squared equals the height of the pendulum from its…

We study how close-in systems such as those detected by Kepler are affected by the dynamics of bodies in the outer system. We consider two scenarios: outer systems of giant planets potentially unstable to planet--planet scattering, and wide…

We use a secular model to describe the non-resonant dynamics of trans-Neptunian objects in the presence of an external ten-earth-mass perturber. The secular dynamics is analogous to an "eccentric Kozai mechanism" but with both an inner…

The motion of a satellite around a planet can be studied by the Hill model, which is a modification of the restricted three body problem pertaining to motion of a satellite around a planet. Although the dynamics of the circular Hill model…

Secular evolution of binaries driven by an external (tidal) potential is a classic astrophysical problem. Tidal perturbations can arise due to an external point mass, as in the Lidov-Kozai (LK) theory of hierarchical triples, or due to an…

The evolution of multiple stellar systems can be driven by Kozai cycles and tidal friction (KCTF), which shrink the orbit of the inner binary. There is an interesting possibility that two close binaries on a common long-period orbit…

Already slightly eccentric orbits, such as those occupied by many old stars in the Galactic disk, are not well approximated by Lindblad's epicycle theory. Here, alternative approximations for flat orbits in axisymmetric stellar systems are…

The herein presented analytical framework fully describes the motion of coplanar systems consisting of a stellar binary and a planet orbiting both stars on orbital as well as secular timescales. Perturbations of the Runge-Lenz vector are…

We investigate the secular evolution of the orbital semi-major axis and eccentricity due to mass transfer in eccentric binaries, assuming conservation of total system mass and orbital angular momentum. Assuming a delta function mass…

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 investigate the nature of tidal effects in compact triple-star systems. The hierarchical structure of a triple system produces tidal forcing at high frequencies unobtainable in binary systems, allowing for the tidal excitation of high…

Hierarchical triples are expected to be produced by the frequent binary-mediated interactions in the cores of globular clusters. In some of these triples, the tertiary companion can drive the inner binary to merger following large…

The gravitational three-body problem is a fundamental problem in physics and has significant applications to astronomy. Three-body configurations are often considered stable as long the system is hierarchical; that is, the two orbital…

Axisymmetric disks of eccentric Kepler orbits are vulnerable to an instability which causes orbits to exponentially grow in inclination, decrease in eccentricity, and cluster in their angle of pericenter. Geometrically, the disk expands to…

The challenge of constraining both the inner and the outer orbits in multiple stars has resulted in a growing abyss between the rich theoretical and the sparse observational studies of von Zeipel-Kozai-Lidov (ZKL) oscillations in stellar…

We report a comprehensive search for hierarchical triple stellar system candidates amongst eclipsing binaries (EB) observed by the CoRoT spacecraft. We calculate and check eclipse timing variation (ETV) diagrams for almost 1500 EBs in an…

Context: Numerous theoretical studies of the stellar dynamics of triple systems have been carried out, but fewer purely empirical studies that have addressed planetary orbits within these systems. Most of these empirical studies have been…

We study the long-term time-scale (i.e. period comaprable to the orbital period of the outer perturber object) transit timing variations in transiting exoplanetary systems which contain a further, more distant (a_2>>a_1) either planetary,…

We investigate the non-resonant, 3-D (spatial) model of the hierarchical system composed of point-mass stellar (or sub-stellar) binary and a low-mass companion (a circumbinary planet or a brown dwarf). We take into account the leading…