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We investigate the secular evolution of the orbital semi-major axis andeccentricity due to mass transfer in eccentric binaries, assuming conservationof total system mass and orbital angular momentum. Assuming a delta functionmass transfer rate centered at periastron, we find rates of secular change ofthe orbital semi-major axis and eccentricity which are linearly proportional tothe magnitude of the mass transfer rate at periastron. The rates can bepositive as well as negative, so that the semi-major axis and eccentricity canincrease as well as decrease in time. Adopting a delta-function mass-transferrate of $10^{-9} M_\sun {\rm yr}^{-1}$ at periastron yields orbital evolutiontimescales ranging from a few Myr to a Hubble time or more, depending on thebinary mass ratio and orbital eccentricity. Comparison with orbital evolutiontimescales due to dissipative tides furthermore shows that tides cannot, in allcases, circularize the orbit rapidly enough to justify the often adoptedassumption of instantaneous circularization at the onset of mass transfer. Theformalism presented can be incorporated in binary evolution and populationsynthesis codes to create a self-consistent treatment of mass transfer ineccentric binaries.

Interacting Binaries with Eccentric Orbits. Secular Orbital Evolution Due To Conservative Mass Transfer