Tidally distorted stars are triaxial pulsators

Fuente: arXiv
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori principali: Fuller, Jim, Rappaport, Saul, Jayaraman, Rahul, Kurtz, Don, Handler, Gerald
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866912120294080512
author Fuller, Jim
Rappaport, Saul
Jayaraman, Rahul
Kurtz, Don
Handler, Gerald
author_facet Fuller, Jim
Rappaport, Saul
Jayaraman, Rahul
Kurtz, Don
Handler, Gerald
contents Stars in close binaries are tidally distorted, and this has a strong effect on their pulsation modes. We compute the mode frequencies and geometries of tidally distorted stars using perturbation theory, accounting for the effects of the Coriolis force and the coupling between different azimuthal orders $m$ of a multiplet induced by the tidal distortion. For tidally coupled dipole pressure modes, the tidal coupling dominates over the Coriolis force and the resulting pulsations are ``triaxial", with each of the three modes in a multiplet ``tidally tilted" to be aligned with the one of the three principal axes of the star. The observed amplitudes and phases of the dipole modes aligned orthogonal to the spin axis are modulated throughout the orbit, producing doublets in the power spectrum that are spaced by exactly twice the orbital frequency. Quadrupole modes have similar but slightly more complex behavior. This amplitude modulation allows for mode identification which can potentially enable detailed asteroseismic analyses of tidally tilted pulsators. Pressure modes should exhibit this behavior in stellar binaries close enough to be tidally synchronized, while gravity modes should remain aligned with the star's spin axis. We discuss applications to various types of pulsating stars, and the relationship between tidal tilting of pulsations and the ``single-sided" pulsations sometimes observed in very tidally distorted stars.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_09743
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Tidally distorted stars are triaxial pulsators
Fuller, Jim
Rappaport, Saul
Jayaraman, Rahul
Kurtz, Don
Handler, Gerald
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Stars in close binaries are tidally distorted, and this has a strong effect on their pulsation modes. We compute the mode frequencies and geometries of tidally distorted stars using perturbation theory, accounting for the effects of the Coriolis force and the coupling between different azimuthal orders $m$ of a multiplet induced by the tidal distortion. For tidally coupled dipole pressure modes, the tidal coupling dominates over the Coriolis force and the resulting pulsations are ``triaxial", with each of the three modes in a multiplet ``tidally tilted" to be aligned with the one of the three principal axes of the star. The observed amplitudes and phases of the dipole modes aligned orthogonal to the spin axis are modulated throughout the orbit, producing doublets in the power spectrum that are spaced by exactly twice the orbital frequency. Quadrupole modes have similar but slightly more complex behavior. This amplitude modulation allows for mode identification which can potentially enable detailed asteroseismic analyses of tidally tilted pulsators. Pressure modes should exhibit this behavior in stellar binaries close enough to be tidally synchronized, while gravity modes should remain aligned with the star's spin axis. We discuss applications to various types of pulsating stars, and the relationship between tidal tilting of pulsations and the ``single-sided" pulsations sometimes observed in very tidally distorted stars.
title Tidally distorted stars are triaxial pulsators
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.09743