Energy Budget and Core-Envelope Motion in Common Envelope Evolution

Abstract

We analyze a 3D hydrodynamic simulation of common envelope evolution to understand how energy is transferred between various forms and whether theory and simulation are mutually consistent given the setup. Virtually all of the envelope unbinding in the simulation occurs before the end of the rapid plunge-in phase, here defined to coincide with the first periastron passage. In contrast, the total envelope energy is nearly constant during this time because positive energy transferred to the gas from the core particles is counterbalanced by the negative binding energy from the closer proximity of the inner layers to the plunged-in secondary. During the subsequent slow spiral-in phase, energy continues to transfer to the envelope from the red giant core and secondary core particles. We also propose that relative motion between the centre of mass of the envelope and the centre of mass of the particles could account for the offsets of planetary nebula central stars from the nebula's geometric centre.

arXiv comment17 pages, 10 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (32)

• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA)
• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Giant Planets, Oscillations, Rotation, and Massive Stars
• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Binaries, Pulsations, and Explosions
• Common Envelope Evolution: Where we stand and how we can move forward
• Post-common-envelope binaries from SDSS. IX: Constraining the common-envelope efficiency
• An AMR Study of the Common Envelope Phase of Binary Evolution
• Double Core Evolution X. Through the Envelope Ejection Phase
• Hydrodynamic moving-mesh simulations of the common envelope phase in binary stellar systems
• V1309 SCO - Understanding a merger
• On the Formation and Evolution of Common Envelope Systems
• Accretion in common envelope evolution
• Shock-powered light curves of luminous red novae as signatures of pre-dynamical mass loss in stellar mergers
• Simulating Magnetohydrodynamical Flow with Constrained Transport and Adaptive Mesh Refinement; Algorithms & Tests of the AstroBEAR Code
• The effect of a wider initial separation on common envelope binary interaction simulations
• A comprehensive population synthesis study of post-common envelope binaries
• Observational Confirmation of a Link Between Common Envelope Binary Interaction and Planetary Nebula Shaping
• Common envelope events with low-mass giants: understanding the transition to the slow spiral-in
• On the Formation of Helium Double Degenerate Stars and Pre-Cataclysmic Variables
• Common envelope events with low-mass giants: understanding the energy budget
• Episodic mass ejections from common-envelope objects
• Runaway Coalescence at the Onset of Common Envelope Episodes
• Extending Common Envelope Simulations from Roche Lobe Overflow to the Nebular Phase
• Bound Outflows, Unbound Ejecta, and the Shaping of Bipolar Remnants during Stellar Coalescence
• Constructing stable 3D hydrodynamical models of giant stars
• The post-common envelope central stars of the planetary nebulae Henize 2-155 and Henize 2-161
• The effect of binding energy and resolution in simulations of the common envelope binary interaction
• On the survival of brown dwarfs and planets engulfed by their giant host star
• The population of white dwarf-main sequence binaries in the SDSS DR 12
• Abell 41: shaping of a planetary nebula by a binary central star?
• SALT HRS discovery of the binary nucleus of the Etched Hourglass Nebula MyCn 18
• A Model for the Outer Rings of SN 1987A
• VLT observations of the asymmetric Etched Hourglass Nebula, MyCn 18

Cited by in corpus (20)

• Companion-launched jets and their effect on the dynamics of common envelope interaction simulations
• Speaking with one voice: simulations and observations discuss the common envelope $\alpha$ parameter
• Light Curve Model for Luminous Red Novae and Inferences about the Ejecta of Stellar Mergers
• Disk formation and jet inclination effects in Common Envelopes
• Common Envelope Wind Tunnel: The Effects of Binary Mass Ratio and Implications for the Accretion-Driven Growth of LIGO Binary Black Holes
• Properties of the post in-spiral common envelope ejecta I: dynamical and thermal evolution
• How Drag Force Evolves in Global Common Envelope Simulations
• Common Envelope Evolution on the Asymptotic Giant Branch: Unbinding within a Decade?
• AGB winds in interacting binary stars
• Post-dynamical inspiral phase of common envelope evolution: Binary orbit evolution and angular momentum transport
• Inclined jets inside a common envelope of a triple stellar system
• Common Envelope Wind Tunnel: Range of Applicability and Self-Similarity in Realistic Stellar Envelopes
• Hydrodynamic Simulations of Disrupted Planetary Accretion Discs Inside the Core of an AGB Star
• Jets from main sequence and white dwarf companions during common envelope evolution
• The first catalog of candidate white dwarf-main sequence binaries in open star clusters: A new window into common envelope evolution
• Cataclysmic Variables in Triples: Formation Models and New Discoveries
• The Formation of Discs in the Interior of AGB Stars from the Tidal Disruption of Planets and Brown Dwarfs
• Moving and Reactive Boundary Conditions in Moving-Mesh Hydrodynamics
• The Energy Sharing Timescale in an Analytic Framework for Common Envelope Hydrodynamics
• Light Curve Models of Convective Common Envelopes