We present a comprehensive characterisation of close stellar encounters in the solar vicinity, with a particular focus on placing the predicted fly-by of GJ~710 in context. This star will come extremely close ($0.0621$\,pc or $\sim10^4$\,AU) to the Solar System in approximately 1.3\,Myr. Using a linear motion approximation, we identified past and future close stellar encounters within 1\,pc of the Solar System, using a complete sample of nearby stars. We assessed the completeness of our dataset and applied corrections to the radial velocities, accounting for gravitational redshift and convective blueshift. Such effects can bias the measured velocities and affect the derived encounter parameters. Furthermore, we computed close encounters for all the stars in the Solar System vicinity to build a statistically significant sample of such events. We accounted for binary systems and common proper motion pairs, applying corrections to account for incompleteness at the edges of our time window. We derived reliable statistics for close stellar encounters of stars within 25\,pc of the Sun. We report a rate of encounters within 1\,pc and within 0.47\,Myr of $10.6 \pm 4.5$ per Myr and star, im
3I/ATLAS, the third discovered interstellar object, has a heliocentric speed of 58 km/s and exhibits cometary activity. To constrain the origin of 3I/ATLAS and its past dynamical evolution, we propagate the orbits of 3I/ATLAS and nearby stars to search for stellar encounters. Integrating orbits in the Galactic potential and propagating the astrometric and radial-velocity uncertainties of 30 million Gaia stars, we identify 25 encounters with median encounter distances less than 1 pc. However, because the encounter speeds between 3I/ATLAS and each encounter exceed 20 km/s, none is a plausible host under common ejection mechanisms. We infer stellar masses for most stars and quantify the gravitational perturbations exerted by each individual star or each binary system on 3I/ATLAS. The strongest gravitational scattering perturber is a wide M-dwarf binary. Among all past encounters, the binary's barycenter and 3I/ATLAS reach the small encounter distance of 0.242 pc and the encounter speed of 28.39 km/s,1.64 Myr ago. We further demonstrate that the cumulative influence of the stellar encounters on both the speed and direction of 3I/ATLAS is weak. Based on the present kinematics of 3I/ATLA
Stars and planets form in regions of enhanced stellar density, subjecting protoplanetary discs to gravitational perturbations from neighbouring stars. Observations in the Taurus star-forming have uncovered evidence of at least three recent, star-disc encounters that have truncated discs (HV/DO Tau, RW Aurigae, UX Tau), raising questions about the frequency of such events. We aim to assess the probability of observing truncating star-disc encounters in Taurus. We generate a physically motivated dynamical model including binaries and spatial-kinematic substructure to follow the historical dynamical evolution and stellar encounters in the Taurus star forming region. We track the star-disc encounters and outer disc radius evolution over the lifetime of Taurus. A quarter of discs are truncated below 30 au by dynamical encounters, but this truncation mostly occurs in binaries over the course of a few orbital periods, on a time-scale $\lesssim 0.1$ Myr. Nonetheless, some truncating encounters still occur up to the present age of Taurus. Strongly truncating encounters (ejecting $\gtrsim 10$ percent of the disc mass) occur at a rate $\sim 10$ Myr$^{-1}$, sufficient to explain the encounter
Scenarios such as the QCD axion with the Peccei-Quinn symmetry broken after inflation predict an enhanced matter power spectrum on sub-parsec scales. These theories lead to the formation of dense dark matter structures known as minihalos, which provide insights into early Universe dynamics and have implications for direct detection experiments. We examine the mass loss of minihalos during stellar encounters, building on previous studies that derived formulas for mass loss and performed N-body simulations. We propose a new formula for the mass loss that accounts for changes in the minihalo profile after disruption by a passing star. We also investigate the mass loss for multiple stellar encounters. We demonstrate that accurately assessing the mass loss in minihalos due to multiple stellar encounters necessitates considering the alterations in the minihalo's binding energy after each encounter, as overlooking this aspect results in a substantial underestimation of the mass loss.
In the dense regions of star clusters, close encounters with black holes (BHs) can occur giving rise to a new class of gravitational-wave (GW) signals. Binary-single encounters between three BHs are expected to dominate the rate of signals from unbound systems in the frequency band of terrestrial GW detectors. The encounter can describe a quasi-hyperbolic trajectory, which was the focus of a recent study. In some cases, the encounter can take a more complex form including one or two BH mergers as a result of the encounter, repeating cycles of close proximity between the BHs, and the exchange of a BH that is part of the binary. The variety of types of encounters leads to a variety of GW signals emerging from these encounters. Using the ARWV N-body code, we performed 42 numerical simulations, to explore various outcomes of binary-single interaction, and we characterize the diverse GW signatures produced during these encounters. Additionally, we evaluated the detectability of these GW signals by injecting them into the simulated noise of the Einstein Telescope and exploring different methods to detect the signals. Our findings shed light on the complexities of these interactions and t
Despite the rise of mobile robot deployments in home and work settings, perceived safety of users and bystanders is understudied in the human-robot interaction (HRI) literature. To address this, we present a study designed to identify elements of a human-robot encounter that correlate with observed stress response. Stress is a key component of perceived safety and is strongly associated with human physiological response. In this study a Boston Dynamics Spot and a Unitree Go1 navigate autonomously through a shared environment occupied by human participants wearing multimodal physiological sensors to track their electrocardiography (ECG) and electrodermal activity (EDA). The encounters are varied through several trials and participants self-rate their stress levels after each encounter. The study resulted in a multidimensional dataset archiving various objective and subjective aspects of a human-robot encounter, containing insights for understanding perceived safety in such encounters. To this end, acute stress responses were decoded from the human participants' ECG and EDA and compared across different human-robot encounter conditions. Statistical analysis of data indicate that on a
Interactions between disc-surrounded stars might play a vital role in the formation of planetary systems. Here a first parameter study of the effects of encounters on low-mass discs is presented. The dependence of the mass and angular momentum transport on the periastron distance, the relative mass of the encountering stars and eccentricity of the encounter is investigated in detail. This is done for prograde and retrograde coplanar encounters as well as non-coplanar encounters. For distant coplanar encounters our simulation results agree with the analytical approximation of the angular momentum loss by Ostriker(1994). However, for close or high-mass encounters, significant differences to this approximation are found. This is especially so in the case of retrograde encounters, where the analytical result predict no angular momentum loss regardless of the periastron distance whereas the simulations find up to ~ 20% loss for close encounters. For the non-coplanar case a more complex dependency on the inclination between orbital path and disc plane is found than for distant encounters. For the coplanar prograde case new fitting formulae for the mass and angular momentum loss are obtai
Simulations of the collapse and fragmentation of turbulent molecular clouds and dense young clusters show that encounters between disc-surrounded stars are relatively common events which should significantly influence the resulting disc structure. In turn this should alter the accretion rate of disc matter onto the star and the conditions under which planet formation occurs. Although the effects of star-disc encounters have been previously investigated, very little is known about encounters where both stars are surrounded by discs. In this paper encounters of such disc-disc systems are studied quantitatively. It is found that for low-mass discs ($M_D$= 0.01 $M_\sun$) the results from star-disc encounters can be straightforwardly generalized to disc-disc encounters as long as there is no mass transport between the discs. Differences to star-disc encounters occur naturally where significant amounts of matter are transported between the discs. In this case it is found that although the mass distribution does not change significantly, matter caught onto highly eccentric orbits is transported surprisingly far inside the disc. The captured mass partly replenishes the disc, but has a much
Large amplitude gust encounters exhibit a range of separated flow phenomena, making them difficult to characterize using the traditional tools of aerodynamics. In this work, we propose a dynamical systems approach to gust encounters, viewing the flow as a cycle (or a closed trajectory) in state space. We posit that the topology of this cycle, or its shape and structure, provides a compact description of the flow, and can be used to identify coordinates in which the dynamics evolve in a simple, intuitive way. To demonstrate this idea, we consider flowfield measurements of a transverse gust encounter. For each case in the dataset, we characterize the full-state dynamics of the flow using persistent homology, a tool that identifies holes in point cloud data, and transform the dynamics to a reduced-order space using a nonlinear autoencoder. Critically, we constrain the autoencoder such that it preserves topologically relevant features of the original dynamics, or those features identified by persistent homology. Using this approach, we are able to transform six separate gust encounters to a three-dimensional latent space, in which each gust encounter reduces to a simple circle, and fro
We performed numerical simulations of dynamical encounters between hard massive binaries and a very massive star (VMS; formed through runaway mergers of ordinary stars in the dense core of a young massive star cluster), in order to explore the hypothesis that this dynamical process could be responsible for the origin of high-velocity (\geq 200-400 km/s) early or late B-type stars. We estimated the typical velocities produced in encounters between very tight massive binaries and VMSs (of mass of \geq 200 Msun) and found that about 3-4 per cent of all encounters produce velocities of \geq 400 km/s, while in about 2 per cent of encounters the escapers attain velocities exceeding the Milky Ways's escape velocity. We therefore argue that the origin of high-velocity (\geq 200-400 km/s) runaway stars and at least some so-called hypervelocity stars could be associated with dynamical encounters between the tightest massive binaries and VMSs formed in the cores of star clusters. We also simulated dynamical encounters between tight massive binaries and single ordinary 50-100 Msun stars. We found that from 1 to \simeq 4 per cent of these encounters can produce runaway stars with velocities of
Prompt cusps are the densest quasi-equilibrium dark matter objects; one forms at the instant of collapse within every isolated peak of the initial cosmological density field. They have power-law density profiles, $ρ\propto r^{-1.5}$ with central phase-space density set by the primordial velocity dispersion of the dark matter. At late times they account for $\sim 1\%$ of the dark matter mass but for $>90\%$ of its annihilation luminosity in all but the densest regions, where they are tidally disrupted. Here we demonstrate that individual stellar encounters, rather than the mean galactic tide, are the dominant disruptors of prompt cusps within galaxies. Their cumulative effect is fully (though stochastically) characterised by an impulsive shock strength $B_* = 2πG\intρ_*({\bf x}(t))\, \mathrm{d}t$ where $ρ_*$, the total mass density in stars, is integrated over a cusp's entire post-formation trajectory. Stellar encounters and mean tides have only a small effect on the halo annihilation luminosity seen by distant observers, but this is not true for the Galactic halo because of the Sun's position. For a 100 GeV WIMP, Earth-mass prompt cusps are predicted, and stellar encounters supp
The formation and early evolution of circumstellar discs often occurs within dense, newborn stellar clusters. For the first time, we apply the moving-mesh code AREPO, to circumstellar discs in 3-D, focusing on disc-disc interactions that result from stellar fly-bys. Although a small fraction of stars are expected to undergo close approaches, the outcomes of the most violent encounters might leave an imprint on the discs and host stars that will influence both their orbits and their ability to form planets. We first construct well-behaved 3-D models of self-gravitating discs, and then create a suite of numerical experiments of parabolic encounters, exploring the effects of pericenter separation r_p, disc orientation and disc-star mass ratio (M_d/M_*) on the orbital evolution of the host stars. Close encounters (2r_p<~ disc radius) can truncate discs on very short time scales. If discs are massive, close encounters facilitate enough orbital angular momentum extraction to induce stellar capture. We find that for realistic primordial disc masses M_d<~0.1M_*, non-colliding encounters induce minor orbital changes, which is consistent with analytic calculations of encounters in the
The Nice model of the dynamical instability and migration of the giant planets can explain many properties of the present Solar System, and can be used to constrain its early architecture. In the jumping-Jupiter version of the Nice model, required from the terrestrial planet constraint and dynamical structure of the asteroid belt, Jupiter has encounters with an ice giant. Here we study the survival of the Galilean satellites in the jumping-Jupiter model. This is an important concern because the ice-giant encounters, if deep enough, could dynamically perturb the orbits of the Galilean satellites, and lead to implausible results. We performed numerical integrations where we tracked the effect of planetary encounters on the Galilean moons. We considered three instability cases from Nesvorny & Morbidelli (2012) that differed in the number and distribution of encounters. We found that in one case, where the number of close encounters was relatively small, the Galilean satellite orbits were not significantly affected. In the other two, the orbital eccentricities of all moons were excited by encounters, Callisto's semimajor axis changed, and, in a large fraction of trials, the Laplace
Understanding of the mechanisms driving our daily face-to-face encounters is still limited; the field lacks large-scale datasets describing both individual behaviors and their collective interactions. However, here, with the help of travel smart card data, we uncover such encounter mechanisms and structures by constructing a time-resolved in-vehicle social encounter network on public buses in a city (about 5 million residents). This is the first time that such a large network of encounters has been identified and analyzed. Using a population scale dataset, we find physical encounters display reproducible temporal patterns, indicating that repeated encounters are regular and identical. On an individual scale, we find that collective regularities dominate distinct encounters' bounded nature. An individual's encounter capability is rooted in his/her daily behavioral regularity, explaining the emergence of "familiar strangers" in daily life. Strikingly, we find individuals with repeated encounters are not grouped into small communities, but become strongly connected over time, resulting in a large, but imperceptible, small-world contact network or "structure of co-presence" across the
The solar system's Oort cloud can be perturbed by the Galactic tide and by individual passing stars. These perturbations can inject Oort cloud objects into the inner parts of the solar system, where they may be observed as the long-period comets (periods longer than 200 years). Using dynamical simulations of the Oort cloud under the perturbing effects of the tide and 61 known stellar encounters, we investigate the link between long-period comets and encounters. We find that past encounters were responsible for injecting at least 5% of the currently known long-period comets. This is a lower limit due to the incompleteness of known encounters. Although the Galactic tide seems to play the dominant role in producing the observed long-period comets, the non-uniform longitude distribution of the cometary perihelia suggests the existence of strong -- but as yet unidentified -- stellar encounters or other impulses. The strongest individual future and past encounters are probably HIP 89825 (Gliese 710) and HIP 14473, which contribute at most 8% and 6% to the total flux of long-period comets, respectively. Our results show that the strength of an encounter can be approximated well by a simpl
The frequency of Galactic stellar encounters the Solar system experienced depends on the local density and velocity dispersion along the orbit of the Sun in the Milky Way galaxy. We aim at determining the effect of the radial migration of the solar orbit on the rate of stellar encounters. As a first step we integrate the orbit of the Sun backwards in time in an analytical potential of the Milky Way. We use the present-day phase-space coordinates of the Sun, according to the measured uncertainties. The resulting orbits are inserted in an N-body simulation of the Galaxy, where the stellar velocity dispersion is calculated at each position along the orbit of the Sun. We compute the rate of Galactic stellar encounters by employing three different solar orbits ---migrating from the inner disk, without any substantial migration, and migrating from the outer disk. We find that the rate for encounters within $4\times10^5$ AU from the Sun is approximately 21, 39 and 63 Myr$^{-1}$, respectively. The stronger encounters establish the outer limit of the so-called parking zone, which is the region in the plane of the orbital eccentricities and semi-major axes where the planetesimals of the Sola
We calculate the space motions of 21,497 stars to search for close stellar encounters with Vega, epsilon Eridani and Fomalhaut during the past 1 Myr. We discover that epsilon Eridani experienced three <2 pc encounters over the past 100,000 yr. Within the uncertainties, epsilon Eridani is having a close encounter with Kapteyn's star near the present epoch, with a 42.2 percent probability that the closest approach distance is <1 pc. Vega and Fomalhaut experienced four and six <2 pc encounters, respectively, over the past 1 Myr. Each had one encounter with a roughly 2 percent probability that the closest approach distance is less than 0.5 pc. These encounters will not directly influence the debris disks observed around Vega, epsilon Eridani and Fomalhaut, but they may pass through hypothetical Oort clouds surrounding these stars. We find that two other Vega-like stars, HD 17848 and HD 20010, experienced rare, <0.1 pc stellar encounters that are more likely to directly perturb their circumstellar disks.
We investigate the response of a circumstellar accretion disc to the fly-by of a perturbing mass on a parabolic orbit. The energy and angular momentum transferred during the encounter are calculated using a reduced three-body method. In almost all close encounters the energy and angular momentum transfer is dominated by disc material becoming unbound from the system, with the contributions from close disc particle -- star encounters being significant. For more distant encounters with some prograde element to the motion the disc material loses energy and angular momentum to the perturber's orbit through a resonance feature. The magnitude of the energy transfer calculated in our simulations is greater than that of the binding energy of material exterior to periastron by a factor of two in the prograde case, and up to a factor of five in the case of the retrograde encounter. The destructive nature of the encounters indicates that a non-linear treatment is essential in all but the most distant encounters.
Probable past and future close encounters of open clusters with known characteristics over 64 million years have been calculated by integrating the orbits of cluster centers in the Galactic potential using the _galpy_ package. It has been shown that in the Galactic neighborhood of the Sun, pairwise cluster encounters at distances comparable to or smaller than their sizes occur at a characteristic rate of 35 to 40 events per 1 Myr. Close encounters between open clusters with a significant age difference occur at a rate of 15 events per Myr. It can be expected that in the Galaxy as a whole, such events occur an order of magnitude more frequently per unit time. Thus, dynamical interactions between stellar ensembles of different ages may not be too rare and could influence the properties of stellar populations. A pair of clusters with similar ages: HSC 1428 and Gulliver 22 was identified as a likely physically bound binary cluster system. A forecast of expected close encounters over the next 32 Myr has been provided for 490 pairs of clusters. Currently, 29 pairs of clusters are at their closest approach.
Intracellular processes often rely on the timely encounter of mobile reaction partners, including intermittently motor-driven organelles. The underlying cytoskeletal network presents a complex landscape that both directs particle movement and introduces quenched disorder through filament organization. We investigate the mean first encounter times for pairs of intermittently processive and diffusive particles, moving in two dimensions with and without a fixed filament network. In unstructured domains, increasing particle run-length enhances exploration of the domain, but tends to slow down the encounter times compared to equivalent diffusing particles. Encounters for long-running particles occur preferentially near the periphery, contrasting with bulk encounters for the purely diffusive case. When particles are unbiased in their runs along dense filament networks, encounters are shown to be well approximated by a continuum run-and-tumble model. For biased particles, regions of convergent filament orientation can serve as traps that slow the overall spatial exploration but can allow for faster encounter rates by funneling particles into regions of reduced dimensionality. These findin