Abstract
The occurrence of multiple stars, dominantly binaries, is studied using the Gaia-ESA DR2 catalog. We apply the optimized statistical method that we previously developed for the analysis of 2D patterns. The field of stars is divided into a mosaic of small pieces that represent a statistical set for analysis. Specifically, data input is represented by a grid of circles (events) with radius 0.°02 covering the sky in the field of galactic latitude ∣b∣ > 25°. The criteria for selecting candidates for multiple stars are based on two parameters: angular separation and collinearity of proper motion. Radial separation, due to limited accuracy, is used only as a weaker supplementary constraint. Due attention is paid to the accurate calculation of the background, which is a necessary input for evaluating the quality of the candidates. Our selection algorithm generates the catalog of candidates: 900,842 binaries, 5282 trinaries, and 30 quaternaries.