Lebovitz's (1987) Modified Fission Hypothesis

First, contract slowly down the sequence of Maclaurin spheroids to the point of dynamical instability (D), then evolve along the Riemann (x = +1) sequence of ellipsoids until a bifurcation to the dumbbell sequence is encountered.

Then, contract slowly along the dumbbell sequence (if one exists!) until the configuration "pinches off" into a binary system.




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