Hydrodynamic Processes in Young Binary Systems as a Source of Cyclic Variations of Circumstellar Extinction

TL;DR

This study models hydrodynamic processes in young binary systems to explain cyclic variations in circumstellar extinction, revealing multiple periodic components linked to orbital motion, disk density waves, and precession.

Contribution

The paper introduces a hydrodynamic model of young binary systems that explains multiple periodic extinction variations, including their dependence on system parameters and orientation.

Findings

Periodic extinction variations can reach 1 magnitude in brightness.

Three distinct periodic components are identified: orbital, density wave, and precession.

Amplitude of brightness variations depends on system parameters and inclination.

Abstract

Hydrodynamic models of a young binary system accreting matter from the remnants of a protostellar cloud have been calculated by the SPH method. It is shown that periodic variations in column density in projection onto the primary component take place at low inclinations of the binary plane to the line of sight. They can result in periodic extinction variations. Three periodic components can exist in general case. The first component has a period equal to the orbital one and is attributable to the streams of matter penetrating into the inner regions of the binary. The second component has a period that is a factor of 5-8 longer than the orbital one and is related to the density waves generated in a circumbinary (CB) disk. The third, longest period is attributable to the precession of the inner asymmetric region of CB disk. The relationship between the amplitudes of these cycles depends on the model parameters as well as on the inclination and orientation of the binary in space. We show that at a dust-to-gas ratio of 1:100 and and a mass extinction coefficient of 250 cm$^2$ g$^{-1}$, the amplitude of the brightness variations of the primary component in the V-band can reach $1^m$ at a mass accretion rate onto the binary components of $10^{-8} M_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ and a $10^{\rm o}$ inclination of the binary plane to the line of sight. We discuss possible applications of the model to pre-main-sequence stars.