Related papers: Revisiting symbiotic binaries with interferometry:…
The majority of massive stars reside in binary systems, which are expected to experience mass transfer during their evolution. However, so far the conditions under which mass transfer leads to a common envelope, and thus possibly to a…
The current theory predicts that hot subdwarf binaries are produced from evolved low-mass binaries that have undergone mass transfer and drastic mass loss during either a common envelope phase or a stable Roche lobe overflow while on the…
Various white-dwarf (WD) binary scenarios have been proposed trying to understand the nature and the diversity of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). In this work, we study the evolution of carbon-oxygen WD -- red giant (RG) binaries (including…
LIN 358 and SMC N73 are two symbiotic binaries in the halo of the Small Magellanic Cloud, each composed of a hot white dwarf accreting from a cool giant companion. In this work, we characterize these systems using a combination of…
We present and discuss mm/submm observations of quiescent S-type symbiotic systems, and compare them with popular models proposed to account for their radio emission. We find that the M giant mass-loss rates derived from our observations…
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…
We describe a new code to simulate the stellar evolution of a close interacting binary system. It is then used to calculate the evolution of a classical nova system composed of a 1.25 Msun Main-Sequence (MS) star and a 1.0 Msun white dwarf…
We have used the tidal equations of Zahn to determine the maximum orbital distance at which companions are brought into Roche lobe contact with their giant primary, when the primary expands during the giant phases. This is a key step when…
MWC 560 and other peculiar symbiotic binary, CH Cyg, have been classified as the prototypes of the new subclass of symbiotic systems - propellers, with accretion onto a magnetic white dwarf being the source of activity. The companion of the…
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…
Stellar oscillations give seismic information on the internal properties of stars. Red giants are targets of interest since they present mixed modes, which behave as pressure modes in the convective envelope and as gravity modes in the…
The slow and dense wind from a symbiotic red giant can be significantly deflected toward the orbital plane by the gravitational pull of the companion star. In such an environment, the ionizing radiation from the companion creates a highly…
The evolution of binaries consisting of evolved main sequence stars (1 < M_d/Msun < 3.5) with white dwarf companions (0.7 < M_wd/Msun < 1.2) is investigated through the thermal mass transfer phase. Taking into account the stabilizing effect…
The frequencies of oscillation modes in stars contain valuable information about the stellar properties. In red giants the frequency spectrum also contains mixed modes, with both pressure (p) and gravity (g) as restoring force, which are…
A small fraction of red giants are known to be lithium (Li) rich, in contradiction with expectations from stellar evolutionary theory. A possible explanation for these atypical giants is the engulfment of a Li-rich planet or brown dwarf by…
We measured the radii of 7 low and very low-mass stars using long baseline interferometry with the VLTI interferometer and its VINCI and AMBER near-infrared recombiners. We use these new data, together with literature measurements, to…
We perform hydrodynamic simulations of mass transfer in binaries that contain a white dwarf and a neutron star (WD-NS binaries), and measure the specific angular momentum of material lost from the binary in disc winds. By incorporating our…
Any white dwarf or neutron star that accretes enough material from a red giant companion, such that this interaction can be detected at some wavelength, is currently termed Symbiotic Star (typical P(orb)=2-3 years). In the majority of ~400…
Most symbiotic stars consist of a white dwarf accreting material from the wind of a red giant. An increasing number of these objects have been found to produce jets. Analysis of archival Chandra data of the symbiotic system CH Cygni reveals…
Binary systems of a hot subdwarf B (sdB) star + a white dwarf (WD) with orbital periods less than 2-3 hours can come into contact due to gravitational waves and transfer mass from the sdB star to the WD before the sdB star ceases nuclear…