Merging Binaries in the Galactic Center: The eccentric Kozai-Lidov
  mechanism with stellar evolution
  Most, if not all, stars in the field are born in binary configurations or
higher multiplicity systems. In dense stellar environment such as the Galactic
Center (GC), many stars are expected to be in binary configurations as well.
These binaries form hierarchical triple body systems, with the massive black
hole (MBH) as the third, distant object. The stellar binaries are expected to
undergo large amplitude eccentricity and inclination oscillations via the
so-called "eccentric Kozai-Lidov" (EKL) mechanism. These eccentricity
excitations, combined with post main sequence stellar evolution, can drive the
inner stellar binaries to merge. We study the mergers of stellar binaries in
the inner 0.1 pc of the GC caused by gravitational perturbations due to the
MBH. We run a large set of Monte Carlo simulations that include the secular
evolution of the orbits, general relativistic precession, tides, and
post-main-sequence stellar evolution. We find that about 13 % of the initial
binary population will have merged after a few million years and about 29 %
after a few billion years. These expected merged systems represent a new class
of objects at the GC and we speculate that they are connected to G2-like
objects and the young stellar population.
