Chaos-assisted capture in the formation of Kuiper-belt binaries

1. Chaos-assisted capture in the formation of Kuiper-belt binaries Sergey Astakhov UniqueICs, Saratov, Russia and NIC Forschungszentrum Jülich,Germany Ernestine Lee FivePrime Therapeutics, San Francisco, Calif. USA David Farrelly Department of Chemistry, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA

2. Currently; ~ 24 NEA binaries ~ 26 Main Belt binaries ~ 22 TNO binaries (K. S. Noll, Asteroids, Comets, Meteors, 2005)

3. rprim rsec

4. Main belt binaries – collisional origin Origin of TNO binaries?

5. Hill Sphere – mutual gravity dominates solar tides

6. Binary TNO formation models must explain… (1998 WW31)

7. and explain … • Step 1: initial capture • Step 2: Post-capture “Keplerization” • Require a source of dissipation or other means of energy loss Zero-velocity (energy) surface in circular RTBP

8. Model comparison

9. Chaos-assisted capture

10. Phase space of Hill problem is divided into three parts • periodic orbits • quasiperiodic trajectories (KAM tori) • chaotic transients at the edge of stability – “stickiness”, gravitational capture • short-lived scattering trajectories bound unbound How do gravitating particles form bound (stable) configurations?

11. Sticky Tori • Chaotic orbits cling to “sticky” KAM tori • Opportunity for capture into nearby tori • Capture above Lagrange points possible.

12. Long-lived chaotic orbits

13. (i) Form a “nascent” long-living binary in the Hill sphere in a chaotic layer prograderetrograde

14. Capture in the Hill sphere and stabilization Intruder scattering lads to (ii) capture in Hill sphere and (iii) Keplerization by small (~ 1 – 2% binary mass) intruder scattering (orbit reduction)

15. Algorithm

16. 4-body Hill equations (Scheeres, 1998):Sun + binary + small intruder (relative to Sun)

17. Statistics of stabilization • Each chaotic binary orbit exposed to ~ 5000 intruders • Each orbit ends up with a capture probability • Stabilization is most efficient by small intruders (~1% of the total binary mass).

18. Post-capture Keplerization through multiple intruder scattering • After 200 encounters, binary survival probabilities ~ 10 times higher for equal masses • Eccentricities tend to be moderate • Semimajor axes in observed range m2/m1 = 1 m2/m1 = 0.05

19. Why are equal mass binaries more stable? Intruder dwell-times in Hill sphere • Dwell-times somewhat longer for unequal mass proto-binaries • Dwell-times << proto-binary lifetime in absence of intruders

20. Suggests a simplified model • Nascent chaotic binary time scales >> intruder dwell times – assume binary elliptical orbit • Neglect solar tides • Set intruder mass to zero • Binary partners are now the “primaries” • Intruder is “mass-less test particle” Elliptic Restricted Three-body problem

21. Detecting chaos in the ERTBP limit: Fast Lyapunov indicator

22. Elliptic RTBP • Chaos-assisted capture robust to moderate ellipticity • Detect chaos using Fast Lyapunov Indicator (FLI) Fast Lyapunov Indicator Corresponding SOS in CRTBP

23. Intruders get stuck in Hill sphere resonances unequal masses destabilization • ~equal mass binaries undergo rapid intruder scattering • Circular or very elliptical binary orbits destabilized FLI MAPS

24. Capture of Neptune’s retrograde moon Triton

25. Binary-Planet Scattering • Agnor & Hamilton – capture in a 3-body binary-Neptune exchange encounter: Nature, 441, 192 (2006). • Triton approaches Neptune as part of a binary. • Neptune then “exchanges” with one of the binary partners leaving Triton in an elliptical orbit with close approach distance q ~ 0.5 aTriton ~ 0.15% rHill ~ 7 RNeptune • Keplerization through tidal interactions • Doesn’t consider Sun-Neptune Hill sphere • Binary has to surmount Lagrange points

26. Binary-Neptune scattering + solar tides

27. Approach speeds

28. Outcomes – 3Dim orbits projectedon to x-y plane Hill Sphere • Capture of one binary partner • Temporary trapping of both binary partners as intact binary • Escape of both binary partners • Split-up of binary and temporary trapping of both binary partners (rare) • Collisions with planet • Numerous close encounters with planet – implies collisions with satellites may be probable Y X

29. RminRmax

30. Summary ab • Small binary semi-major axes (ab ~ 10RN) – hard binaries – and low relative velocities (few km/s): binary behaves as a composite and exchange is rare • Binary partner collisions • Softer binaries: long-term trapping and capture • Opportunity for collisions with inner moons

31. Conclusions • Chaos is important in providing the glue to allow otherwise improbable events to occur • Likely that all proposed KBB capture mechanisms play some role, perhaps in combination • Capture of moons in binary-planet encounters is possible but very complex dynamics inside Hill sphere results

32. Acknowledgements Andrew Burbanks, University of Portsmouth, U.K. Funding: National Science Foundation