[mesa-users] irradiation in binary_donor_only

[thomas c.d. (cdt1g11) <cd...@so...>]

Hi! im currently investigating the effects of irradiation on the evolution of binary systems, specifically starting with an accretor mass of 1.4M_sun and donor mass of 1.0_M_sun. using an initial period of 2.0 days one would expect angular momentum losses, roche lobe overflow and accretion.

I’m looking into the effects of x-rays, from this accretion, on the donor star. To do this i am using the binary_donor_only module in the binary suite. when setting in the project inlist accretion_powered_irradiation = .true. we see some effects of irradiation. however when we then use different values of col_depth_for_eps_extra we encounter a problem for any value <1. specifically, as mass loss begins the time step reduces to a size so small it’s impractical for running the code; 1 test saw 750,000 models calculated without progressing a single year in age.

Does anyone have any wisdom for solving this issue? would be greatly appreciated!
thanks!

Callum Thomas