White dwarf-white dwarf ( WD-WD ) and neutron star-neutron star ( NS-NS ) mergers may produce Type Ia supernovae and gamma-ray bursts ( GRBs ) , respectively .
A general problem is how to produce binaries with semi-major axes small enough to in significantly less than the Hubble time ( t _ { H } ) , and thus accommodate the observation that these events closely follow episodes of star formation .
I explore the possibility that such systems are not binaries at all , but actually coeval , or dynamical formed , triple systems .
The tertiary induces Kozai oscillations in the inner binary , driving it to high eccentricity , and reducing its gravitational wave ( GW ) merger timescale .
This effect significantly increases the allowed range of binary period P such that the merger time is t _ { merge } < t _ { H } .
In principle , Chandrasekhar-mass binaries with P \sim 300 days can merge in \lesssim t _ { H } if they contain a prograde solar-mass tertiary at high enough inclination .
For retrograde tertiaries , the maximum P such that t _ { merge } \lesssim t _ { H } is yet larger .
In contrast , P \lesssim 0.3 days is required in the absence of a tertiary .
I discuss implications of these findings for the production of transients formed via compact object binary mergers .
Based on the statistics of solar-type binaries , I argue that many such binaries should be in triple systems affected by the Kozai resonance .
If true , expectations for the mHz GW signal from individual sources , the diffuse background , and the foreground for GW experiments like LISA are modified .
This work motivates future studies of triples systems of A , B , and O stars , and new types of searches for WD-WD binaries in triple systems .