Related papers: Successive common envelope events from multiple pl…
It is likely that at least some planetary nebulae are composed of matter which was ejected from a binary star system during common-envelope (CE) evolution. For these planetary nebulae the ionizing component is the hot and luminous remnant…
Understanding post-common-envelope evolution is important in the studies of close-binary systems. The majority of all interacting binaries with a compact object in their system (e.g. cataclysmic variables, X-ray binaries) are thought to…
The observational evidence that planetary systems can be very different from each other, suggests that their dynamical histories were very diverse, probably as a result of a strong sensitivity to the initial conditions. Severe dynamical…
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…
Discoveries of exoplanets orbiting evolved stars motivate critical examinations of the dynamics of $N$-body systems with mass loss. Multi-planet evolved systems are particularly complex because of the mutual interactions between the…
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…
One of the most poorly understood stellar evolutionary paths is that of binary systems undergoing common-envelope evolution, when the envelope of a giant star engulfs the orbit of a companion. Although this interaction leads to a great…
In the nucleated instability picture of gas giant formation, the final stage is the rapid accretion of a massive gas envelope by a solid core, bringing about a tenfold or more increase in mass. This tends to trigger the scattering of any…
The majority of stars form in star clusters and many are thought to have planetary companions. We demonstrate that multi-planet systems are prone to instabilities as a result of frequent stellar encounters in these star clusters much more…
The recently detected gravitational wave signals (GW150914 and GW151226) of the merger event of a pair of relatively massive stellar-mass black holes (BHs) calls for an investigation of the formation of such progenitor systems in general.…
This work aims to present our current best physical understanding of common-envelope evolution (CEE). We highlight areas of consensus and disagreement, and stress ideas which should point the way forward for progress in this important but…
Thousands of confirmed and candidate exoplanets have been identified in recent years. Consequently, theoretical research on the formation and dynamical evolution of planetary systems has seen a boost, and the processes of planet-planet…
In the last few years, a number of planets have been proposed to orbit several post main-sequence binary star systems on the basis of observed variations in the timing of eclipses between the binary components. A common feature of these…
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 photometric and spectroscopic observational campaign organized for the 2008/9 eclipse of EE Cep revealed features, which indicate that the eclipsing disk in the EE Cep system has a multi-ring structure. We suggest that the gaps in the…
The morphologies of planetary nebula have long been believed to be due to wind shaping processes in which a fast wind from the central star impacts a previously ejected envelope. Asymmetries assumed to exist in the slow wind envelope lead…
Although current sensitivity limits are such that true Solar System analogs remain challenging to detect, numerous planetary systems have been discovered that are very different from our own Solar System. The majority of systems harbor a…
One of the most important and uncertain stages in the binary evolution is the common envelope (CE) event. Significant attention has been devoted in the literature so far to the energy balance during the CE event, expected to determine the…
Triple stellar systems allow us to study stellar processes that cannot be attained in binary stars. The evolutionary phases in which the stellar members undergo mass exchanges can alter the hierarchical layout of these systems. Yet, the…
We analyse the dynamics of the multiple planet system HD 181433. This consists of two gas giant planets (c and d) with msin i = 0.65 MJup and 0.53 MJup orbiting with periods 975 and 2468 days, respectively. The two planets appear to be in a…