Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 71 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let . The centre of mass condition gives , . For circular motion the component angular momenta are , soUsing Kepler's third law, , and givesThis is the circular-binary orbital angular momentum. Mass received by the companion redistributes angular momentum within the binary star; only the escaping stellar wind removes it under the prescribed model.
The stellar wind from the donor star has specific angular momentumHere , and . Thus donor-wind angular-momentum loss givesTaking the logarithmic derivative of the period expression for givesUse to simplify this toFor constant , integration therefore givesThis is the donor-wind period invariant with fixed retention fraction. If changes during the evolution, the differential equation remains valid but the integrated invariant is instead . The fixed-power expression cannot be used with a time-dependent exponent without this modification.
For the Roche lobe, write . The equivalent separation expression givesTaking the logarithmic derivative of then adds , yieldingThis donor-wind Roche-lobe response uses only the instantaneous value of and thus still holds if it varies.
Define and . The Roche-lobe radius response exponent is , whereas the donor star's stellar radius response exponent is . Keeping requires the two logarithmic derivatives of radius to agree, soFor , this determinesA physical mixture of Roche-lobe overflow and stellar wind from the donor star needs . Equivalently, must lie strictly between the pure-wind response and the conservative response . The values and are valid limiting prescriptions, respectively pure stellar wind and conservative mass transfer, rather than mixtures. If lies outside , no allowed division of the lost mass can maintain contact under this radius law and angular-momentum-loss prescription. This is feasibility of donor-wind binary contact.
The likely direction away from contact follows without assigning a nonphysical fraction. For any actual , let . ThenSince , a positive value of makes the donor star move inside its lobe and detach; a negative value increases overfill and promotes stronger transfer. Thus if , gives increasing overfill and gives detachment; if , these outcomes are reversed. A runaway or a new equilibrium would require the donor star's response or the angular-momentum-loss model to change, possibly with additional driving. The contact calculation alone does not prove a particular nonlinear endpoint.