DISSIPATIVE MODELS OF COLLIDING STELLAR WINDS - I - EFFECTS OF THERMAL CONDUCTION IN WIDE BINARY-SYSTEMS

The influence of electron thermal conduction on the 2D gas dynamics of colliding stellar winds is investigated. It is shown that, as a resul t of the nan-linear dependence of the electron thermal flux on the tem perature, the pre-heating zones (in which the hot gas in the interacti on region heats the cool winds in front of the shocks) have finite siz es. The dependence of the problem of the structure of the flow in the interaction region on the dimensionless parameters is studied, and a s imple expression is derived for the size of the pre-heating zones at t he axis of symmetry. It is shown that small values of the thermal cond uctivity do not suppress the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability if the adiab atic flow is subject to it. Further studies, both numerical and analyt ical, in this direction will be of great interest. The influence of th ermal conduction on the X-ray emission from the interaction region is also estimated.