Merger and disruption lifetimes of binary star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

The times of merger due to mutual gravitational interaction and disruption by the tidal field of the LMC and by passing giant molecular clouds of binary star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud are calculated as a function of separation of the components. As expected, close pairs merge while wide pairs are disrupted by the tidal field and by the passing giant molecular clouds. The total effect of the three processes shows that a pair with a separation of about 15 pc has the maximum probability of survival and the corresponding lifetime is less than 5 x 10 exp 7 yr. A comparison with the observed separation histogram shows good agreement