Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Circumbinary discs around young stars have been observed to be misaligned to the binary orbital plane. A misaligned circumbinary gas disc evolves towards one of two states: alignment with the binary orbital plane or polar alignment where the disc is perpendicular to the binary orbital plane. With analytic and numerical methods we explore how binary and disc properties affect the process. The disc evolution has important implications for planet formation and planetary system stability.