Secular dynamics of the triple system harbouring PSR J0337+1715 and implications for the origin of its orbital configuration

Abstract

We explore secular dynamics of a recently discovered hierarchical triple system consisting of the radio pulsar PSR J0337+1715 and two white dwarfs (WDs). We show that three body interactions endow the inner binary with a large forced eccentricity and suppress its apsidal precession, to about 24% of the rate due to the general relativity. However, precession rate is still quite sensitive to the non-Newtonian effects and may be used to constrain gravity theories if measured accurately. Small value of the free eccentricity of the inner binary $e_{i}^{free}\approx 2.6\times 10^{-5}$ and vanishing forced eccentricity of the outer, relatively eccentric binary naturally result in their apsidal near-alignment. In addition, this triple system provides a unique opportunity to explore excitation of both eccentricity and inclination in neutron star-WD binaries, e.g. due to random torques caused by convective eddies in the WD progenitor. We show this process to be highly anisotropic and more effective at driving eccentricity rather than inclination. The outer binary eccentricity as well as $e_{i}^{free}$ exceed by more than an order of magnitude the predictions of the eccentricity-period relation of Phinney (1992), which is not uncommon. We also argue that the non-zero mutual inclination of the two binaries emerges at the end of the Roche lobe overflow of the outer (rather than the inner) binary.