The Dynamical Roche Lobe in Hierarchical Triples

Understand

The Roche lobe formalism describes mass transfer from one star to another.

• We develop an extension to hierarchical triples, considering the case in which a star donates mass to a companion which is itself a binary.
• The L1 point moves as the inner binary rotates, and the Roche lobe pulsates with the period of the inner binary.
• Signatures of mass transfer may therefore be imprinted with the orbital period of the inner binary.