Related papers: Common envelope: progress and transients
The unique core-mass - radius relation for giants with degenerate helium cores enables us to reconstruct the evolution of three observed double helium white dwarfs with known masses of both components. The last mass transfer phase in their…
Novae are thermonuclear eruptions on accreting white dwarfs in interacting binaries. Although most of the accreted envelope is expelled, the mechanism -- impulsive ejection, multiple outflows or prolonged winds, or a common-envelope…
Over forty years of research suggests that the common envelope phase, in which an evolved star engulfs its companion upon expansion, is the critical evolutionary stage forming short-period, compact-object binary systems, such as coalescing…
It is now clear that central star binarity plays a key role in the formation and evolution of planetary nebulae, with a significant fraction playing host to close-binary central stars which have survived one or more common envelope…
The process of unstable mass transfer in a stellar binary can result in either a complete merger of the stars or successful removal of the donor envelope leaving a surviving more compact binary. "Luminous red nova" (LRN) are the class of…
The discovery via gravitational waves of binary black hole systems with total masses greater than $60M_\odot$ has raised interesting questions for stellar evolution theory. Among the most promising formation channels for these systems is…
It is now clear that a binary evolutionary pathway is responsible for a significant fraction of all planetary nebulae, with some authors even going so far as to claim that binarity may be a near requirement for the formation of an…
A hydrodynamic model for the energy transport between the components of a contact binary is presented. Energy is transported by a large-scale, steady circulation carrying high entropy matter from the primary to secondary component. The…
A stellar common envelope occurs in a binary system when the atmosphere of an evolving star expands to encompass an orbiting companion object. Such systems are predicted to evolve rapidly, ejecting the stellar envelope and leaving the…
Standard CMB analysis assumes a direct deterministic mapping between the multipole probed by the CMB $\ell$ and the primordial wavenumber $k$. Since the recombination era has a finite duration, this mapping is probabilistic by construction.…
Stars are generally spherical, yet their gaseous envelopes often appear non-spherical when ejected near the end of their lives. This quirk is most notable during the planetary nebula phase when these envelopes become ionized. Interactions…
Oscillations in the probability density of quantum transitions of the eigenstates of a chaotic Hamiltonian within classically narrow energy ranges have been shown to depend on closed compound orbits. These are formed by a pair of orbit…
We present the first measurements and simulations of recombination fluorescence in ultracold neutral plasmas. In contrast with previous work, experiment and simulation are in significant disagreement. Comparison with a recombination model…
Common envelope evolution (CEE) is presently a poorly understood, yet critical, process in binary stellar evolution. Characterizing the full 3D dynamics of CEE is difficult in part because simulating CEE is so computationally demanding.…
We discuss the central role that dust condensation plays in shaping the observational appearance of outflows from coalescing binary systems. As binaries begin to coalesce, they shock-heat and expel material into their surroundings.…
Rapidly evolving transients, or objects that rise and fade in brightness on timescales two to three times shorter than those of typical Type Ia or Type II supernovae (SNe), have uncertain progenitor systems and powering mechanisms. Recent…
Spin-dependent processes play a crucial role in organic electronic devices. Spin coherence can give rise to spin mixing due to a number of processes such as hyperfine coupling, and leads to a range of magnetic field effects. However, it is…
The stellar origin of gamma-ray bursts can be explained by the rapid release of energy in a highly collimated, extremely relativistic jet. This in turn appears to require a rapidly spinning highly magnetised stellar core that collapses into…
We conduct three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of the common envelope binary interaction and show that if the companion were to launch jets while interacting with the giant primary star's envelope, the jets would remove a substantial…
This work addresses nucleation rates in systems with strong initial recombination. Initial (or `geminate') recombination is a process where a dissociated structure (anion, vortex, kink etc.) recombines with its twin brother (cation,…