Binary stars migrating in a gaseous disk: Where are the Galactic Center binaries?
Clement Baruteau, UCSC
The massive stars in the
Galactic Center inner arcsecond share analogous
properties with the so-called Hot Jupiters. Most of
these young stars have highly eccentric orbits, and
were probably not formed in-situ. It has been proposed
that these stars acquired their current orbits from
the tidal disruption of massive binaries scattered
toward the proximity of the central supermassive black
hole. I will talk about the relevance of
disk-satellite interactions to harden massive binary
stars, and to drive their inward migration. I will
discuss the possible implications of the binary's
hardening process.