Terminology and Definitions

This subsection provides a list of terms that are used in the subsequent sections and their meaning, with the purpose of reducing ambiguity and making it easier to correctly understand the requirements.

• Binary star system: A system consisting of two stars that orbit around their common center of mass due to gravitational interaction.
• Star: A massive astronomical object that is treated as a point mass in this context.
• Gravitational interaction: The mutual attractive force between two masses as described by Newtonian gravity.
• Newton’s law of universal gravitation: The law stating that every mass attracts every other mass with a force proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
• Initial conditions: The positions and velocities of the stars at the start of the simulation.
• Trajectory: The path traced by a star in space as a function of time.
• Center of mass: The point representing the average position of the mass distribution of the system.
• Inertial reference frame: A reference frame in which Newton’s laws of motion are valid without the introduction of fictitious forces.
• Simulation time span: The duration over which the evolution of the system is computed.