Related papers: Primordial Binary Evolution and Blue Stragglers
Blue straggler stars (BSS) are abundantly observed in all Galactic globular clusters (GGC) where data exist. However, observations alone cannot reveal the relative importance of various formation channels or the typical formation times for…
We performed populations synthesis calculations of single stars and binaries and show that binary evolution is extremely important for Galactic astronomy. We review several binary evolution models and conclude that they give quite different…
Galactic nuclei are often found to contain young stellar populations and, in most cases, a central supermassive black hole (SMBH). Most known massive stars are found in binaries or higher-multiplicity systems, and in a galactic nucleus the…
The study of massive X-ray binaries provides important observational diagnostics for a number of fundamental astrophysical issues, such as the evolution of massive stars, the stellar winds of massive stars, the formation of compact objects…
In this chapter we discuss the population and spectral synthesis of stellar populations. We describe the method required to achieve such synthesis and discuss examples where inclusion of interacting binaries are vital to reproducing the…
In the present review we summarize direct and indirect evidence that the massive close binary frequency is very large. We then discuss the binary evolutionary processes and we present a general massive close binary evolutionary scheme.…
The recent sample of 21 detached eclipsing binaries in the Small Magellanic Cloud (Harries et al. 2003, Hilditch et al. 2005) provides a valuable test of the binary mass function for massive stars. We show that 50% of detached binaries have…
The old open cluster M67 is an ideal testbed for current cluster evolution models because of its dynamically evolved structure and rich stellar populations that show clear signs of interaction between stellar, binary and cluster evolution.…
We have investigated the effect of the number of primordial binaries on the relationship between the total number of detected binaries within globular cluster and its collision rate. We have used simulated populations of binary stars in…
It was recently demonstrated that contact binaries occur in globular clusters (GCs) only immediately below turn-off point and in the region of blue straggler stars (BSs). In addition, observations indicate that at least a significant…
The old (7 Gyr) open cluster NGC 188 has yielded a wealth of astrophysical insight into its rich blue straggler population. Specifically, the NGC 188 blue stragglers are characterized by: A binary frequency of 80% for orbital periods less…
Binaries have played a crucial role many times in the history of modern astronomy and are doing so again in the rapidly evolving exploration of the Kuiper Belt. The large fraction of transneptunian objects that are binary or multiple, 48…
Binary stars are common in star clusters and galaxies, but the detailed effects of binary evolution are not taken into account in some colour-magnitude diagram (CMD) studies. This paper studies the CMDs of twelve globular clusters via…
We have used the results of recent smoothed particle hydrodynamic simulations of colliding stars to create models appropriate for input into a stellar evolution code. In evolving these models, we find that little or no surface convection…
We present a detailed investigation of the radial distribution of blue straggler star and binary populations in the Galactic globular cluster NGC 5466, over the entire extension of the system. We used a combination of data acquired with the…
Stellar mergers are responsible for a large variety of astrophysical phenomena. They form blue straggler stars, give rise to spectacular transients, and produce some of the most massive stars in the Universe. Here, we focus on mergers from…
We present a technique to identify the most probable dynamical formation scenario for an observed binary or triple system containing one or more merger products or, alternatively, to rule out the possibility of a dynamical origin. Our…
Planetary nebulae are traditionally considered to represent the final evolutionary stage of all intermediate-mass stars ($\sim$0.7-8Msol). Recent evidence seems to contradict this picture. In particular, since the launch of the Hubble Space…
The hydrodynamics of stellar collisions and mergers is discussed in the context of blue straggler formation. Emphasis is placed on the very important question of hydrodynamic mixing during the merger process. Recent results of…
We construct evolutionary tracks for massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) embedded in a surrounding distribution of stars. The dynamics of the binary is evolved by taking into account the erosion of the central stellar cusp bound to the…