Peter P. Eggleton (source code)

= Peter P. Eggleton
{c}

<Peter P. Eggleton> developed a widely useful approximation for the effective <radius> of a <Roche lobe> in a <binary star> system. His 1983 calculation integrated the lobe's <volume> and represented the result with a smooth function of the stellar <mass ratio>.

Smoothness was a practical improvement: a previously used piecewise approximation had a discontinuous <derivative>, which could introduce artificial features into numerical calculations of binary evolution. The <Eggleton Roche-lobe radius approximation> avoids that join while closely fitting the computed volumes.<Approximations to the radii of Roche lobes by Peter P. Eggleton>[p. 368, opening discussion of equation (1), volume integrations and equation (2)]{ref}