Misaligned circumbinary discs around unequal-mass eccentric binaries: alignment, morphology, and binary accretion variability

Fuente: arXiv
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori principali: Yang, Ruiqi, Smallwood, Jeremy L., Deng, Hongping, Li, Ya-Ping, Franchini, Alessia, Dong, Ruobing, Liu, Shang-Fei
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866911597439483904
author Yang, Ruiqi
Smallwood, Jeremy L.
Deng, Hongping
Li, Ya-Ping
Franchini, Alessia
Dong, Ruobing
Liu, Shang-Fei
author_facet Yang, Ruiqi
Smallwood, Jeremy L.
Deng, Hongping
Li, Ya-Ping
Franchini, Alessia
Dong, Ruobing
Liu, Shang-Fei
contents Binary systems are ubiquitous in the Universe and often host circumbinary discs that are misaligned with the binary orbital plane. Such misalignments can affect disc evolution and binary accretion variability. We here present 3D hydrodynamical simulations of circumbinary discs with initial tilts $i_0$ from $0^\circ$ to $180^\circ$, around eccentric binaries with secondary-to-primary mass ratios of $0.11-0.67$. We find that both the initial tilt and mass ratio can affect the long-term accretion variability in our simulations. Discs evolving towards polar and coplanar retrograde generally favour accretion onto the primary star, while discs evolving towards coplanar prograde generally favour accretion onto the secondary. We find preferential accretion ratio $η=\langle\dot{M_2}\rangle/\langle\dot{M_\mathrm{b}}\rangle$ to be a non-monotonic function of the mass ratio. For discs close to coplanar prograde alignment, $η$ increases with decreasing mass ratio, whereas for discs with $30^\circ \le i_0 \le 135^\circ$, $η$ decreases for smaller mass ratios. Polar discs show the lowest mass loss rates, slightly lower than those of coplanar prograde discs, while retrograde discs lose mass faster than their prograde counterparts. Discs that undergo strong warping or breaking experience rapid mass loss. Our findings provide insights into observed circumbinary discs and have implications for circumbinary planet formation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_14555
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Misaligned circumbinary discs around unequal-mass eccentric binaries: alignment, morphology, and binary accretion variability
Yang, Ruiqi
Smallwood, Jeremy L.
Deng, Hongping
Li, Ya-Ping
Franchini, Alessia
Dong, Ruobing
Liu, Shang-Fei
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Binary systems are ubiquitous in the Universe and often host circumbinary discs that are misaligned with the binary orbital plane. Such misalignments can affect disc evolution and binary accretion variability. We here present 3D hydrodynamical simulations of circumbinary discs with initial tilts $i_0$ from $0^\circ$ to $180^\circ$, around eccentric binaries with secondary-to-primary mass ratios of $0.11-0.67$. We find that both the initial tilt and mass ratio can affect the long-term accretion variability in our simulations. Discs evolving towards polar and coplanar retrograde generally favour accretion onto the primary star, while discs evolving towards coplanar prograde generally favour accretion onto the secondary. We find preferential accretion ratio $η=\langle\dot{M_2}\rangle/\langle\dot{M_\mathrm{b}}\rangle$ to be a non-monotonic function of the mass ratio. For discs close to coplanar prograde alignment, $η$ increases with decreasing mass ratio, whereas for discs with $30^\circ \le i_0 \le 135^\circ$, $η$ decreases for smaller mass ratios. Polar discs show the lowest mass loss rates, slightly lower than those of coplanar prograde discs, while retrograde discs lose mass faster than their prograde counterparts. Discs that undergo strong warping or breaking experience rapid mass loss. Our findings provide insights into observed circumbinary discs and have implications for circumbinary planet formation.
title Misaligned circumbinary discs around unequal-mass eccentric binaries: alignment, morphology, and binary accretion variability
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.14555