paper

On the tidal interaction of a solar-type star with an orbiting companion: Excitation of g mode oscillation and orbital evolution

arXiv:astro-ph/9801280 · doi:10.1086/305927

Abstract

We calculate the dynamical tides raised on a non-rotating solar-type star by a close stellar or planetary companion. Dissipation arising from a turbulent viscosity operating in the convection zone and radiative damping in the radiative core are considered. We compute the torque exerted on the star by a companion in circular orbit, and determine the potentially observable magnitude of the tidally induced velocity at the stellar photosphere. These calculations are compared with the results obtained by assuming that a very small frequency limit can be taken in order to calculate the tidal response (equilibrium tide). For a standard solar model, the latter is found to give a relatively poor approximation at the periods of interest of several days, even when the system is far from resonance with a normal mode. It is shown that although the companion may go through a succession of resonances as it spirals in under the action of the tides, for a fixed spectrum of normal modes its migration is controlled essentially by the non-resonant interaction. We find that the turbulent viscosity that is required to provide the observed circularization rates of main sequence solar-type binaries is about fifty times larger than that simply estimated from mixing length theory for non-rotating stars. We discuss the means by which this enhanced viscosity might be realized. These calculations are applied to 51 Pegasi. We show that the perturbed velocity induced by the tides at the stellar surface is too small to be observed.

36 pages including 6 PostScript figures, LaTex -- To be published in ApJ -- Also available at http://www.ucolick.org/~ct/home.html

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