Implications of Binary Properties for Theories of Star Formation

Abstract

The overall frequency and other statistical properties of binary systems suggest that star formation is intrinsically a complex and chaotic process, and that most binaries and single stars actually originate from the decay of multiple systems. Interactions between stars forming in close proximity to each other may play an important role in the star formation process itself, for example via tidally induced accretion from disks. Some of the energetic activity of newly formed stars could be due to bursts of rapid accretion triggered by interactions with close companions.

arXiv comment12 pages, text only, presented at IAU Symposium 200, "The Formation of Binary Stars", Potsdam, Germany, April 10-15, 2000; to be published by ASP, San Francisco, edited by R. D. Mathieu and H. Zinnecker

References in corpus (6)

• On the Formation of Massive Stars
• Predicting the Properties of Binary Stellar Systems: The Evolution of Accreting Protobinary Systems
• Protostellar fragmentation in a power-law density distribution
• Dynamics of Circumstellar Disks II: Heating and Cooling
• Interpreting the Mean Surface Density of Companions in Star-Forming Regions
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Cited by in corpus (4)

• Simulating star formation in molecular cloud cores I. The influence of low levels of turbulence on fragmentation and multiplicity
• A Turbulent Interstellar Medium Origin of the Binary Period Distribution
• Massive runaway stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Five More Massive Binaries in the Cygnus OB2 Association