Tidal Dissipation from Circularization in Kepler Binaries

Abstract Understanding tidal dissipation is a requisite step for explaining the evolution of systems such as short-period binaries. This understanding has not yet been achieved, and in fact there are many different approaches to modeling tides. By using Bayesian analysis on a system-by-system basis, we provide additional constraints on dissipation for 105 short-period Sunlike Kepler binaries. We account for period-dependent Q and stellar evolution, and propagate observational uncertainties to uncertainties in our constraints. We find a group constraint of log Q * ′ ≈ 6.75 , with no apparent dependence on tidal period. We also do not detect mass dependence for Q . Our inferred prescription for the tidal dissipation successfully reproduces the unexpected overlap between almost perfectly circular and significantly noncircular orbits in binaries of Sunlike stars reported by J. J. Zanazzi.