Is There a Planet in the PSR 1620-26 Triple System?

The unusually large eccentricity ($e_1=0.025$) of the low-mass binary millisecond pulsar PSR B1620-26 can be explained naturally as arising from the secular perturbation of a second, more distant companion. Such a triple configuration has been proposed recently as the most likely cause of the anomalous second period derivative of the pulsar. The current timing data are consistent with a second companion mass $m_2$ as low as $\sim10^{-3}\,M_\odot$, i.e., comparable to that of Jupiter. However, {\em if\/} the eccentricity is indeed produced by secular perturbations, then the second companion must be another star, most likely of mass m_2\lo1M_\odot and in a very eccentric (e_2\go0.5) orbit of period $P_2\sim10^2$--$10^3\,$yr. A second companion of planetary mass cannot induce the observed eccentricity. Independent of the mass of the second companion, small changes in the binary pulsar's orbit should become detectable with just a few additional years of timing data. This detection would provide direct confirmation of the triple nature of the system, and an accurate measurement of the effects would place important new constraints on the orbital parameters.Comment: 11 pages, uuencoded compressed postscript includes figures, IAS-AST-94-209

On the Formation and Evolution of Common Envelope Systems

We discuss the formation of a common envelope system following dynamically unstable mass transfer in a close binary, and the subsequent dynamical evolution and final fate of the envelope. We base our discussion on new three-dimensional SPH calculations that we have performed for a close binary system containing a $4\,M_\odot$ red giant with a $0.7\,M_\odot$ main-sequence star companion. The initial parameters are chosen to model the formation of a system resembling V~471~Tau, a typical progenitor of a cataclysmic variable binary. In our highest-resolution calculation, we find evidence for a corotating region of gas around the central binary. This is in agreement with the theoretical model proposed by Meyer \& Meyer-Hofmeister (1979) for the evolution of common envelope systems, in which this central corotating region is coupled to the envelope through viscous angular momentum transport only. We also find evidence that the envelope is convectively unstable, in which case the viscous dissipation time could be as short as $\sim100$ dynamical times, leading to rapid ejection of the envelope. For V~471~Tau, our results, and the observed parameters of the system, are entirely consistent with rapid envelope ejection on a timescale $\sim1\,$yr and an efficiency parameter $\alpha_{CE}\simeq1$.Comment: uses AAS latex macros v4, 36 pages with figures, submitted to ApJ, complete postscript also available at http://ensor.mit.edu/~rasio/paper

Dynamical Interactions of Planetary Systems in Dense Stellar Environments

We study dynamical interactions of star--planet binaries with other single stars. We derive analytical cross sections for all possible outcomes, and confirm them with numerical scattering experiments. We find that a wide mass ratio in the binary introduces a region in parameter space that is inaccessible to comparable-mass systems, in which the nature of the dynamical interaction is fundamentally different from what has traditionally been considered in the literature on binary scattering. We study the properties of the planetary systems that result from the scattering interactions for all regions of parameter space, paying particular attention to the location of the "hard--soft" boundary. The structure of the parameter space turns out to be significantly richer than a simple statement of the location of the "hard--soft" boundary would imply. We consider the implications of our findings, calculating characteristic lifetimes for planetary systems in dense stellar environments, and applying the results to previous analytical studies, as well as past and future observations. Recognizing that the system PSR B1620-26 in the globular cluster M4 lies in the "new" region of parameter space, we perform a detailed analysis quantifying the likelihood of different scenarios in forming the system we see today.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. Minor changes to reflect accepted version. 14 pages, 14 figure