Related papers: The thermal equilibrium mass loss model and its ap…
Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) with Lx > 10^{39} ergs/s have been discovered in great numbers in external galaxies with ROSAT, Chandra, and XMM. The central question regarding this important class of sources is whether they represent an…
The mass transfer efficiency during the evolution of massive binaries is still uncertain. We model the mass transfer processes in a grid of binaries to investigate the formation of Wolf-Rayet+O (WR+O) binaries, taking into account two kinds…
We discuss the role of mass loss for the evolution of the most massive stars, highlighting the role of the predicted bi-stability jump that might be relevant for the evolution of rotational velocities during or just after the main sequence.…
Binary mass transfer is at the forefront of some of the most exciting puzzles of modern astrophysics, including Type Ia supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, and the formation of most observed exotic stellar populations. Typically, the evolution is…
The presence of a nearby companion alters the evolution of massive stars in binary systems, leading to phenomena such as stellar mergers, X-ray binaries and gamma-ray bursts. Unambiguous constraints on the fraction of massive stars affected…
The theory of stellar evolution plays a central role in astrophysics as stellar models are used to infer properties for Galactic and Extragalactic stellar populations as well as exoplanetary systems. However, despite decades of experience,…
We study the evolution of a low mass x-ray binary coupling a binary stellar evolution code with a general relativistic code that describes the behavior of the neutron star. We assume the neutron star to be low--magnetized (B~10^8 G). In the…
Mass loss dominates the stellar evolution on the Asymptotic Giant Branch. The phase of highest mass-loss occurs during the last 1--10\% of the AGB and includes the so-called Miras and OH/IR stars. In this review I will discuss the…
Recent gravitational wave observations of neutron star-neutron star and neutron star-black hole binaries appear to indicate that massive neutron stars may not be too uncommon in merging systems. In this manuscript, we present a first set of…
The discrepancies between observations and theoretical predictions of cataclysmic variables (CVs) suggest that there exists unknown angular momentum loss mechanism(s) besides magnetic braking and gravitational radiation. Mass loss due to…
The threshold mass for prompt collapse in binary neutron star mergers was empirically found to depend on the stellar properties of the maximum-mass non-rotating neutron star model. Here we present a semi-analytic derivation of this…
The chemical enrichment of the Universe; the mass spectrum of planetary nebulae, white dwarfs and gravitational wave progenitors; the frequency distribution of Type I and II supernovae; the fate of exoplanets ... a multitude of phenomena…
Nearby companions alter the evolution of massive stars in binary systems. Using a sample of Galactic massive stars in nearby young clusters, we simultaneously measure all intrinsic binary characteristics relevant to quantify the frequency…
Stable mass transfer from a massive post-main sequence (post-MS) donor is thought to be a short-lived event of thermal-timescale mass transfer which strips the donor star of nearly its entire H-rich envelope, producing a hot helium star.…
We present a model for the formation of high-mass close binary systems in the context of forming massive stars through gas accretion in the centres of stellar clusters. A low-mass wide binary evolves under mass accretion towards a high-mass…
Binary population synthesis shows that mass transfer from a giant star to a main-sequence (MS) companion may account for some observed long-orbital period blue stragglers. However, little attention {\bf is paid to this blue straggler…
We have investigated the structure of evolved giant stars with masses 3-10 M_sun in order to evaluate the binding energy of the envelope to the core prior to mass transfer in close binary systems. This binding energy is expressed by a…
The merger of two neutron stars leaves behind a rapidly spinning hypermassive object whose survival is believed to depend on the maximum mass supported by the nuclear equation of state, angular momentum redistribution by…
The dynamics of binary stars provides a unique avenue to gather insight into the study of the structure and dynamics of star clusters and galaxies. In this paper, we present the results of a set of $N$-body simulations aimed at exploring…
We investigate the secular evolution of the orbital semi-major axis and eccentricity due to mass transfer in eccentric binaries, assuming conservation of total system mass and orbital angular momentum. Assuming a delta function mass…