Properties of von Zeipel-Lidov-Kozai oscillations in triple systems at the quadrupole order: relaxing the test particle approximation

Abstract

Von Zeipel-Lidov-Kozai (ZLK) oscillations in hierarchical triple systems have important astrophysical implications such as triggering strong interactions and producing, e.g., Type Ia supernovae and gravitational wave sources. When considering analytic properties of ZLK oscillations at the lowest (quadrupole) expansion order, as well as complications due to higher-order terms, one usually assumes the test particle limit, in which one of the bodies in the inner binary is massless. Although this approximation holds well for, e.g., planetary systems, it is less accurate for systems with more comparable masses such as stellar triples. Whereas non-test-particle effects are usually taken into account in numerical simulations, a more analytic approach focusing on the differences between the test particle and general case (at quadrupole order) has, to our knowledge, not been presented. Here, we derive several analytic properties of secular oscillations in triples at the quadruple expansion order. The latter applies even to relatively compact triples, as long as the inner bodies are similar in mass such that octupole-order effects are suppressed. We consider general conditions for the character of the oscillations (circular versus librating), minimum and maximum eccentricities, and timescales, all as a function of $\gamma \equiv (1/2)L_1/G_2$, a ratio of inner-to-outer orbital angular momenta variables ($\gamma =0$ in the test particle limit). In particular, eccentricity oscillations are more effective at retrograde orientations for non-zero $\gamma$; assuming zero initial inner eccentricity, the maximum eccentricity peaks at $\cos (i_{\mathrm{rel},0})=-\gamma$, where $i_{\mathrm{rel},0}$ is the initial relative inclination. We provide a Python script which can be used to quickly compute these properties.

Accepted for publication in MNRAS (reference added in proof in Introduction). 16 pages, 17 figures. Code can be found at https://github.com/hamers/ZLK

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