The jet-feedback mechanism in common envelope evolution of planetary nebula progenitors

TL;DR

This study uses stellar evolution simulations to demonstrate how jets launched by a main sequence star can significantly reduce envelope density during common envelope evolution, highlighting jets' crucial role in shaping binary interactions and transient phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces a new method to quantify the negative jet feedback in common envelope evolution using MESA simulations, emphasizing jets' impact on envelope dynamics.

Findings

Jets reduce envelope density by about 50%.

Jets decrease accretion rates and jet power during CEE.

Jets influence the onset and early phases of CEE and related transients.

Abstract

Using the stellar evolution code MESA, we mimic the negative jet feedback mechanism in common envelope evolution (CEE) of low-mass main sequence stars, M2=0.1-0.2Mo, spiraling inward inside the envelopes of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) or red giant branch (RGB) stars and find that the jets reduced the envelope density, therefore the jets' power, by a factor of ~0.5/(M2/0.1Mo). We mimic the energy that the jets deposit into the envelope by depositing energy into the outer envelope, a process that inflates the envelope, therefore reducing the density in the vicinity of the main sequence star, the accretion rate, and the jets' power. In deriving this expression for the negative jet feedback coefficient, we assume that the actual mass accretion rate is a fraction ~0.2-0.5 of the classical Bondi-Hoyle-Lyttleton mass accretion rate and that the jets carry a fraction ~0.25-0.5 of the accretion energy onto the main sequence star. Our study is another step in establishing the major role of jets in the onset and early phase of CEE, a possible grazing envelope evolution phase, and in transient events, such as luminous red novae, which these processes can power.