THE LAGRANGE EQUILIBRIUM POINTS L{sub 4} AND L{sub 5} IN BLACK HOLE BINARY SYSTEM

Journal Article · Sat Nov 20 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/724/1/39· OSTI ID:21471221

Schnittman, Jeremy D ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)

We calculate the location and stability of the L{sub 4} and L{sub 5} Lagrange equilibrium points in the circular restricted three-body problem as the binary system evolves via gravitational radiation losses. Relative to the purely Newtonian case, we find that the L{sub 4} equilibrium point moves toward the secondary mass and becomes slightly less stable, while the L{sub 5} point moves away from the secondary and gains in stability. We discuss a number of astrophysical applications of these results, in particular as a mechanism for producing electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational-wave signals.

• OSTI ID: 21471221
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 724, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/724/1/39; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
BLACK HOLES
EQUILIBRIUM
GALAXY NUCLEI
GRAVITATIONAL RADIATION
GRAVITATIONAL WAVES
MASS
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
SIGNALS
THREE-BODY PROBLEM
ENERGY RANGE
MANY-BODY PROBLEM
PHYSICS
RADIATIONS