Related papers: Mass loss from binary stars approaching merger
We study mass loss from the outer Lagrange point (L2) in binary stellar mergers and their luminous transients by means of radiative hydrodynamical simulations. Previously, we showed that for binary mass ratios 0.06 < q < 0.8, synchronous L2…
This paper reviews our knowledge on binary central stars of planetary nebulae and presents some personal opinions regarding their evolution. Three types of interactions are distinguished: type I, where the binary companion induces the mass…
The formation histories of compact binary mergers, especially stellar-mass binary-black hole mergers, have recently come under increased scrutiny and revision. In this paper we revisit the question of the dominant formation channel and…
Binary stars and their interactions shape the formation of compact binaries, supernovae, and gravitational wave sources. The efficiency of mass transfer - the fraction of mass retained by the accretor during binary interaction - is a…
Close stellar binaries are prone to undergo a phase of stable mass transfer in which a star loses mass to its companion. Assuming that the donor star loses mass along the instantaneous interstellar axis, we derive the orbit-averaged…
A circumbinary disc around a pair of merging stellar-mass black holes may be shocked and heated during the recoil of the merged hole, causing a near-simultaneous electromagnetic counterpart to the gravitational wave event. The shocks occur…
After the companion dynamically plunges through the primary's envelope, the two cores remain surrounded by a common envelope and the decrease of the orbital period $P_\text{orb}$ stalls. The subsequent evolution has never been…
The merger of two neutron stars usually produces a remnant with a mass significantly above the single (nonrotating) neutron star maximum mass. In some cases, the remnant will be stabilized against collapse by rapid, differential rotation.…
The morphology of planetary nebulae emerging from the common envelope phase of binary star evolution is investigated. Using initial conditions based on the numerical results of hydrodynamical simulations of the common envelope phase it is…
We study the orbital evolution of wide binary stars in the solar neighborhood due to gravitational perturbations from passing stars. We include the effects of the Galactic tidal field and continue to follow the stars after they become…
Results are presented on component masses and system angular momenta for over a hundred low-temperature contact binaries. It is found that the secondary components in close binary systems are very similar in mass. Our observational evidence…
After the initial fast spiral-in phase experienced by a common-envelope binary, the system may enter a slow, self-regulated phase, possibly lasting 100s of years, in which all the energy released by orbital decay can be efficiently…
We explore the effects of dynamical evolution in dense clusters on the companion mass ratio distribution (CMRD) of binary stars. Binary systems are destroyed by interactions with other stars in the cluster, lowering the total binary…
The vast majority of massive binary systems in the universe is evidently unsuited to produce merging binary black holes. However, several narrow evolutionary paths of isolated massive binaries towards this goal have recently been…
Stellar mergers and common-envelope evolution are fast (dynamical-timescale) interactions in binary stars that drastically alter their evolution. They are key to understanding a plethora of astrophysical phenomena. Stellar mergers are…
Our understanding of massive star evolution is in flux, due to recent upheavals in our view of mass loss, and observations of a high binary fraction among O-type stars. Mass-loss rates for standard metallicity-dependent winds of hot stars…
Binary star systems containing a neutron star or a black hole with an evolved, massive star are dynamically perturbed when the latter undergoes a supernova explosion. It is possible that the natal kick received by the newly-formed neutron…
From the results of numerical scattering experiments and simulations of a massive black hole binary in spherically symmetric and shallow cores it has been deduced that most likely the shrinking process stalls due to loss-cone depletion…
While there are a number of proposed formation channels for subsolar mass compact objects, including black holes formed primordially, or neutron stars that form in collapsar disks, there have yet to be any conclusive observations of such…
We present a new model describing the evolution of triple stars which undergo common envelope evolution, using a combination of analytic and numerical techniques. The early stages of evolution are driven by dynamical friction with the…