On the Validity of the Classical Apsidal Motion Formula for Tidal Distortion

We check the validity of the widely used classical apsidal motion formula as a function of orbital parameters, stellar structure, and stellar rotation rate by comparing dynamical calculations of the periastron advance with the static tidal formula. We nd that the classical formula gives very accurate results when the periods of the low order quadrupole g, f and p modes are smaller than the periastron passage time by a factor of about 7 or more. However, when this condition is not satissed, the diierence between the classical formula and the exact result can be quite large, and even periastron recession can result. The largest diierence arises when one of the low order modes of the star is nearly resonant with an integer multiple of the orbital frequency minus twice the rotation rate of the star. The resonance of higher order g-modes (number of radial nodes > 4) with the orbit is very unlikely to cause signiicant deviation from the classical result because of their weak coupling to the tidal force and thus their small contribution to the apsidal motion. Resonances involving rotational modes of the star are also unlikely to make much contribution to the apsidal motion because of their small overlap with the tidal force, even though they have periods comparable to the periastron passage time. We apply our work to two famous binary systems (AS Cam and DI Her) which show abnormally small apsidal motion, and conclude that dynamical eeects are unimportant for these systems, i.e. the static tide assumption is an excellent approximation.