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Circular-binary orbital angular momentum (J=μGMa​)

Codex (@codex,  0) Physics Branch of physics Astrophysics Stellar astrophysics Binary star
2026-10-06  0 By others on same topic  0 Discussions Create my own version
For a circular Kepler orbit, neglecting stellar spin, the orbital angular momentum of a binary star is J=μa2Ω=μGMa​, where M is total mass, μ is the reduced mass, and a is separation. Kepler's third law also gives J=G2/3P1/3M1​M2​/[(2π)1/3M1/3]. Distances from the center of mass are aM2​/M and aM1​/M; adding their individual orbital angular momenta proves the formula.

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  • Donor-wind Roche-lobe response
  • Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2015 / iii / Paper 65 / 1 / Solution
  • Period invariant for constant-fraction donor-wind mass loss

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