Planets around evolved binary stars

系外行星围绕着许多不同类型和年龄的恒星。 许多行星绕着它们的主恒星旋转，比太阳到最近的行星水星的距离更近。 然而，较老的恒星可能有许多行星，但很少有行星靠近星星本身。 这项研究解决的问题是，在有两颗相互环绕的恒星或双星的系统中，行星如何生存。 主要研究者将为对天文学感兴趣的大学预科学生组织一个项目，这些学生被诊断患有阅读障碍，ADHD和/或自闭症谱系障碍。该计划的目标是鼓励这些高中生接受高等教育，并帮助他们克服他们在前进道路上可能遇到的障碍。这项研究将利用分层长期三体近似，并将包括相关的物理过程，如广义相对论，潮汐和恒星演化。研究人员将通过提供与当前和未来观测相比可检验的具体预测，将他们的工作与天文观测联系起来。这项研究扩展了我们对发生在太阳系之外的相互作用的了解，太阳系是天体动力学理论起源的制度。由于每颗星星都将经历不同的主序星后演化阶段，这项研究将提供演化恒星双星中行星系统命运的详细分析。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

Exoplanets are found around many different types and ages of stars. Many planets circle closer to their host stars than the distance from our Sun to its closest planet, Mercury. Older stars, however, can have many planets but very few planets located close to the star itself. This research addresses the question of how planets in systems having two stars that orbit each other, or binary stars, survive. The Principal Investigator will organize a program for pre-college students with an interest in astronomy who are diagnosed with dyslexia, ADHD, and/or autism spectrum disorder. The goal of the program is to encourage these high schoolers to pursue higher education and to help them overcome obstacles that they could encounter on their way. This research will utilize the hierarchical secular three body approximation and will include relevant physical processes, such as general relativity, tides and stellar evolution. The investigators will link their work to astronomical observations by providing specific predictions that are testable when compared to current and future observations. This research expands our knowledge of interactions taking place beyond the limits of our solar system, the regime from which astrodynamics theory originated. Since every star will undergo various post main sequence evolutionary stages this study will provide a detailed analysis of the fate of planetary systems in evolved stellar binaries.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.