The Formation and Evolution of Wind-Capture Disks In Binary Systems

Abstract

We study the formation, evolution and physical properties of accretion disks formed via wind capture in binary systems. Using the AMR code AstroBEAR, we have carried out high resolution 3D simulations that follow a stellar mass secondary in the co-rotating frame as it orbits a wind producing AGB primary. We first derive a resolution criteria, based on considerations of Bondi-Hoyle flows, that must be met in order to properly resolve the formation of accretion disks around the secondary. We then compare simulations of binaries with three different orbital radii (10, 15, 20 AU). Disks are formed in all three cases, however the size of the disk and, most importantly, its accretion rate decreases with orbital radii. In addition, the shape of the orbital motions of material within the disk becomes increasingly elliptical with increasing binary separation. The flow is mildly unsteady with "fluttering" around the bow shock observed. The disks are generally well aligned with the orbital plane after a few binary orbits. We do not observe the presence of any large scale, violent instabilities (such as the flip-flop mode). For the first time, moreover, it is observed that the wind component that is accreted towards the secondary has a vortex tube-like structure, rather than a column-like one as it was previously thought. In the context of AGB binary systems that might be precursors to Pre-Planetary and Planetary Nebula, we find that the wind accretion rates at the chosen orbital separations are generally too small to produce the most powerful outflows observed in these systems if the companions are main sequence stars but marginally capable if the companions are white dwarfs. It is likely that many of the more powerful PPN and PN involve closer binaries than the ones considered here. The results also demonstrate principles of broad relevance to all wind-capture binary systems.

13 pages, 9 figures, in press, MNRAS

References in corpus (9)

• Low-Mass Binary Induced Outflows from Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars
• Isolated vs. Common Envelope Dynamos in Planetary Nebula Progenitors
• Simulating Magnetohydrodynamical Flow with Constrained Transport and Adaptive Mesh Refinement; Algorithms & Tests of the AstroBEAR Code
• Numerical Simulations of Wind Accretion in Symbiotic Binaries
• Jupiter will become a hot Jupiter: Consequences of Post-Main-Sequence Stellar Evolution on Gas Giant Planets
• Wide Binary Effects on Asymmetries in Asymptotic Giant Branch Circumstellar Envelopes
• Revisiting the Flip-Flop Instability of Hoyle-Lyttleton Accretion
• The Formation of Crystalline Dust in AGB Winds from Binary Induced Spiral Shocks
• Three-component modeling of C-rich AGB star winds IV. Revised interpretation with improved numerical descriptions

Cited by in corpus (36)

• Asymmetric Accretion Flows within a Common Envelope
• Mass Transfer and Disc Formation in AGB Binary Systems
• Hydrodynamic Simulations of the Interaction between an AGB Star and a Main Sequence Companion in Eccentric Orbits
• Using Kinematic Properties of Pre-Planetary Nebulae to Constrain Engine Paradigms
• Gone with the wind: the impact of wind mass transfer on the orbital evolution of AGB binary systems
• The Effect of Tides on the Population of PN from Interacting Binaries
• Formation of wind-captured discs in Supergiant X-ray binaries : consequences for Vela X-1 and Cygnus X-1
• Wind morphology around cool evolved stars in binaries: the case of slowly accelerating oxygen-rich outflows
• Three-dimensional hydrodynamical models of wind and outburst-related accretion in symbiotic systems
• A 3D radiation-hydrodynamic AGB binary model
• Evidence of a Binary-Induced Spiral from an Incomplete Ring Pattern of CIT 6
• Stellar wind accretion and accretion disk formation: applications to neutron star high mass X-ray binaries
• Rotating Stars and the Formation of Bipolar Planetary Nebulae II: Tidal Spin-up
• How much mass and angular momentum can the progenitors of carbon-enriched stars accrete?
• Binarity and Accretion in AGB Stars: HST/STIS Observations of UV Flickering in Y Gem
• High velocity string of knots in the outburst of the Planetary Nebula Hb4
• Hydrodynamic Winds From Twin-Star Binaries
• Formation of the Asymmetric Accretion Disk from Stellar Wind Accretion in an S-type Symbiotic Star
• The Wolf-Rayet + Black Hole Binary NGC 300 X-1: What is the Mass of the Black Hole?
• The Nucleus of the Planetary Nebula EGB 6 as a Post-Mira Binary
• Jets from main sequence and white dwarf companions during common envelope evolution
• Impact of HI cooling and study of accretion disks in AGB wind-companion smoothed particle hydrodynamic simulations
• Rotational mixing in carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars with s-process enrichment
• Flickering in AGB stars: Probing the nature of accreting companions
• Spin evolution of neutron stars in wind-fed high mass X-ray binaries
• A Profile Analysis of Raman-scattered O VI Bands at 6825 Å and 7082 Å in Sanduleak's Star
• Outflow-Driven Transients from the Birth of Binary Black Holes II: Primary-Induced Accretion Transients
• Probing the Stellar Wind of the Wolf-Rayet Star in IC 10 X-1
• CXO J004318.8+412016, a steady supersoft X-ray source in M 31
• Raman-scattered O VI features in the symbiotic nova RR Telescopii
• Monitoring the X-ray Variability of Bright X-ray Sources in M33
• Accreting Black Holes Skewing and Bending the Optical Emission from Massive Wolf-Rayet Companions -- A Case Study of IC10 X-1
• X-ray constraint for the unseen companion of V723 Mon: it is a mass-gap black hole rather than binary neutron stars
• Planetary migration in wind-fed non-stationary accretion disks in binary systems
• Size of discs formed by wind accretion in binaries can be underestimated if the role of wind-driving force is ignored
• The large-scale nebular pattern of a superwind binary in an eccentric orbit