Combined effects of tidal and rotational distortions on the equilibrium configuration of low-mass, pre-main sequence stars

TL;DR

This paper develops models for low-mass, pre-main sequence stars that incorporate combined tidal and rotational distortions, improving understanding of their structure, evolution, and binary system dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces new models including combined tidal and rotational effects, along with a novel expression for rotational inertia, and applies them to analyze an eclipsing binary system.

Findings

Distorted models match observed stellar parameters of EK Cep.

Distorted models are cooler and more mass-concentrated at ZAMS than standard models.

Harmonics beyond j=2 may be significant in low-mass star analysis.

Abstract

In close binary systems, rotation and tidal forces of the component stars deform each other and destroy their spherical symmetry. We present new models for low-mass, pre-main sequence stars that include the combined distortion effects of tidal and rotational forces on the equilibrium configuration of stars. We investigate the effects of interaction between tides and rotation on the stellar structure and evolution. The Kippenhahn & Thomas (1970) approximation, along with the Clairaut-Legendre expansion for the gravitational potential of a self-gravitating body, is used to take the distortion effects into account. We obtained values of internal structure constants for low-mass, pre-main sequence stars from stellar evolutionary models that consider the combined effects of rotation and tidal forces due to a companion star. We also derived a new expression for the rotational inertia of a tidally and rotationally distorted star. Our distorted models were successfully used to analyze the eclipsing binary system EK Cep, reproducing the stellar radii, effective temperature ratio, lithium depletion, rotational velocities, and the apsidal motion rate in the age interval of 15.5-16.7 Myr. In the low-mass range, the assumption that harmonics greater than j=2 can be neglected seems not to be fully justified, although it is widely used when analyzing the apsidal motion of binary systems. The non-standard evolutionary tracks are cooler than the standard ones, mainly for low-mass stars. Distorted models predict more mass-concentrated stars at the zero-age main-sequence than standard models.