Related papers: White-Dwarf Kicks and Implications for Barium Star…
Classical barium stars are red giants that received from their evolved binary companions material exposed to the \textit{slow} neutron-capture nucleosynthesis, i.e., the $s$-process. Such a mechanism is expected to have taken place in the…
Carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars, CH stars and barium stars, among other classes of chemically peculiar stars, are thought to be products of the interaction of low- and intermediate-mass binaries which occurred when the most evolved star…
Post-common envelope binaries (PCEBs) consisting of a white dwarf (WD) plus a main-sequence (MS) star can constrain current prescriptions of common envelope evolution (CEE) and calibrate theoretical models of binary formation and evolution.…
We propose a new mechanism that produces an orbital period change during a nova outburst. When the ejected material carries away the specific angular momentum of the white dwarf, the orbital period increases. A magnetic field on the surface…
If the winds of an asymptotic-giant-branch stars are sufficiently strong are slightly asymmetric, they can alter the star's trajectory through a globular cluster; therefore, if these winds are asymmetric, one would expect young white dwarfs…
The absence of magnetic white dwarfs with a non-degenerate low-mass stellar companion in a wide binary is still very intriguing and at odds with the hypothesis that magnetic white dwarfs are the progenies of the magnetically peculiar Ap/Bp…
Stellar bow shocks are formed when an outflow interacts with the interstellar medium. In white dwarfs accreting from a binary companion, outflows are associated with either strong winds from the donor star, the accretion disk, or a…
We study the evolution of a system composed by a 1.4 \msun neutron star and a normal, solar composition star of 2 \msun in orbit with a period of 1 day. Calculations were performed employing the binary hydro code presented in Benvenuto & De…
We examine the statistics of main-sequence / main-sequence, main-sequence / white-dwarf and white-dwarf / white-dwarf wide binaries at 10^2.5-10^4 AU separations in Gaia data. For binaries containing a white dwarf, we find a complex…
Context: The principal mechanism by which brown dwarfs form, and its relation to the formation of higher-mass (i.e. hydrogen-burning) stars, is poorly understood. Aims: We advocate a new model for the formation of brown dwarfs. Methods: In…
Observations of white dwarfs in the globular clusters NGC 6397 and Omega Centauri indicate that these stars may get a velocity kick during their time as giants. If the mass loss while on the asymptotic giant branch is slightly asymmetric,…
The wind of an asymptotic-giant-branch stars is sufficiently strong that if it is slightly asymmetric, it can propel the star outside of the open cluster of its birth or significantly alter its trajectory through a globular cluster;…
Several lines of observational evidence suggest that white dwarfs receive small birth kicks due to anisotropic mass loss. If other stars possess extrasolar analogues to the Solar Oort cloud, the orbits of comets in such clouds will be…
(abbreviated) We consider how tight binaries consisting of a super-massive black hole of mass $M=10^{3}-10^{4}M_{\odot}$ and a white dwarf can be formed in a globular cluster. We point out that a major fraction of white dwarfs tidally…
Contact binary systems (also known as W UMa systems) consist of a pair of hydrogen-burning dwarf stars orbiting each other so closely that they share a common envelope. Although they are relatively common, there is as yet no established…
The orbital decay of binaries containing a primary sub-giant or red giant star and a stellar or substellar companion is investigated. The tide raised in the primary by the companion leads to an exchange of angular momentum between the orbit…
During post-main-sequence evolution, radial expansion of the primary star, accompanied by intense winds, can significantly alter the binary orbit via tidal dissipation and mass loss. The fate of a given binary system is determined by the…
The initial distribution of rotational velocities of stars is still poorly known, and how the stellar spin evolves from birth to the various end points of stellar evolution is an actively debated topic. Binary interactions are often invoked…
The theory of binary evolution predicts that many massive stars should lose their hydrogen-rich envelopes via interaction with a companion -- revealing hot helium stars with masses of $\sim$2--8M$_{\odot}$. However, only one candidate…
Nearly every star known to host planets will become a white dwarf, and nearly 100 planet-hosts are now known to be accompanied by binary stellar companions. Here, we determine how a binary companion triggers instability in otherwise…