Related papers: Stellar mergers and common-envelope evolution

In young dense clusters repeated collisions between massive stars may lead to the formation of a very massive star (above 100 Msun). In the past the study of the long-term evolution of merger remnants has mostly focussed on collisions…

Three-dimensional simulations usually fail to cover the entire dynamical common-envelope phase of gravitational wave progenitor systems due to the vast range of spatial and temporal scales involved. We investigated the common-envelope…

Modeling the evolution of progenitors of gravitational-wave merger events in binary stars faces two major uncertainties: the common-envelope phase and supernova kicks. These two processes are critical for the final orbital configuration of…

Stellar mergers are a brief-lived but common phase in the evolution of binary star systems. Among the many astrophysical implications of these events include the creation of atypical stars (e.g. magnetic stars, blue stragglers, rapid…

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…

Massive stars play a major role in the evolution of their host galaxies, and serve as important probes of the distant Universe. It has been established that the majority of massive stars reside in close binaries and will interact with their…

We study the nucleosynthesis and the induced mixing during the merging of massive stars inside a common envelope. The systems of interest are close binaries, initially consisting of a massive red supergiant and a main-sequence companion of…

Many stars are components of triple-star systems, or of higher-order multiples. In such systems mass transfer is common, and when the transfer is dynamically unstable, a common envelope forms. As such, it is important to be able to compute…

Because the majority of massive stars are born as members of close binary systems, populations of massive main-sequence stars contain stellar mergers and products of binary mass transfer. We simulate populations of massive stars accounting…

Common-envelope evolution is a stage in binary system evolution in which a giant star engulfs a companion. The standard energy formalism is an analytical framework to estimate the amount of energy transferred from the companion's shrinking…

This lecture reviews the fundamental physical processes involved in star formation in galaxy interactions and mergers. Interactions and mergers often drive intense starbursts, but the link between interstellar gas physics, large scale…

Interacting galaxies favor the formation of star clusters but are also suspected to affect their evolution through an intense and rapidly varying tidal field. Treating this complex behaviour remains out-of-reach of (semi-)analytical…

Some binary stars experience common envelope evolution, which is accompanied by drastic loss of angular momentum, mass, and orbital energy and which leaves behind close binaries often involving at least one white dwarf, neutron star, or…

We investigate the nature of stellar populations of major galaxy mergers between late-type spirals considerably abundant in interstellar medium by performing numerical simulations designed to solve both the dynamical and chemical evolution…

Binary neutron stars have been observed as millisecond pulsars, gravitational-wave sources, and as the progenitors of short gamma-ray bursts and kilonovae. Massive stellar binaries that evolve into merging double neutron stars are believed…

Galaxy interactions and mergers play a significant, but still debated and poorly understood role in the star formation history of galaxies. Numerical and theoretical models cannot yet explain the main properties of merger-induced…

The evolution of galaxy merger rates and its impact on galaxy properties have been studied intensively over the last decade. It becomes clear now that various types of mergers, i.e. gas-rich (wet), gas-poor (dry), or mixed mergers, affect…

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…

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…

Common-envelope phases are decisive for the evolution of many binary systems. Of particular interest are cases with asymptotic giant branch (AGB) primary stars, because they are thought to be progenitors of various astrophysical transients.…