E-Book Overview
Written by a galaxy of Nobel Laureates, the latest edition of this world-renowned Encyclopedia offers hundreds of in-depth, accessible articles addressing all of the key areas in physical science research and applications.Nine years has passed since the 1992 second edition of the encyclopedia was published. This completely revised third edition, which is a university and professional level compendium of chemistry, molecular biology, mathematics, and engineering, is refreshed with numerous articles about current research in these fields. For example, the new edition has an increased emphasis on information processing and biotechnology, reflecting the rapid growth of these areas. The continuing Editor-in-Chief, Robert Meyers , and the Board prepared a new topical outline of physical science and technology to define complete coverage. Section editors are either Nobel Laureates or editors of key journals in their fields. Additional Board members representing the global scientific community were also recruited. The new 18-volume edition of the Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology, Third Edition , will have the added feature of an Index Volume, containing abstracts of all of the articles in the en cyclopedia.
E-Book Content
P1: ZBU Revised Pages Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology EN002E-52 May 25, 2001 13:43 Binary Stars Steven N. Shore Indiana University, South Bend I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. Historical Introduction Some Preliminaries Classification of Close Binary Systems Evolutionary Processes for Stars in Binary Systems Mass Transfer and Mass Loss in Binaries X-Ray Sources and Cataclysmics Formation of Binary Systems Concluding Remarks GLOSSARY Accretion disk Structure formed when the material accreting onto a star has excess angular momentum, forming a circulating disk of material s