Related papers: Star Clusters as Type Ia Supernova Factories
Type Ia supernovae are heavily used tools in precision cosmology, yet we still are not certain what the progenitor systems are. General plausibility arguments suggest there is potential for identifying double degenerate Type Ia supernova…
In the dense stellar environment of the globular clusters, compact binaries are produced dynamically. Therefore the fraction of type Ia supernovae that explode in globular clusters is expected to be higher than the fraction of mass residing…
The recent discovery of a very bright type Ia supernova, SNLS-03D3bb ($\equiv$ SN 2003fg), in the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS) has raised the question of whether super-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf stars are needed to explain such…
We present the results of a recent near-infrared survey of the fields surrounding a large sample of intermediate-mass pre-main-sequence (Herbig Ae/Be) stars. While late-type Be and Ae stars are never associated with conspicuous groups of…
Binary systems of two carbon-oxygen white dwarfs are one of the most promising candidates for the progenitor systems of Type Ia supernovae. Violent mergers, where the primary white dwarf ignites when the secondary white dwarf smashes onto…
Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are thought to result from thermonuclear explosions of carbon-oxygen white dwarf stars. Existing models generally explain the observed properties, with the exception of the sub-luminous 1991-bg-like supernovae.…
We examine the possibility that supernovae type Ia (SN Ia) are produced by white dwarfs accreting from Roche-lobe filling evolved companions, under the assumption that a strong optically thick stellar wind from accretor is able to stabilize…
Merging white dwarfs are a possible progenitor of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). While it is not entirely clear if and when an explosion is triggered in such systems, numerical models suggest that a detonation might be initiated before the…
Nearby dwarf irregular galaxies were searched for compact star clusters using data from the HST archives. Three of the galaxies were found to host both populous clusters (M_V<-9.5 at a fiducial age of 10 Myr) and super-star clusters…
Two formation scenarios are investigated for type Ia supernovae in elliptical galaxies: the single degenerate scenario (a white dwarf reaching the Chandrasekhar limit through accretion of matter transferred from its companion star in a…
Stellar winds of massive ($\gtrsim9\,\mathrm{M_\odot}$) and very massive ($\gtrsim100\,\mathrm{M_\odot}$) stars may play an important role in the metal-enrichment during the formation of star clusters. With novel high-resolution…
Type Ia supernovae, critical for studying cosmic expansion, arise from thermonuclear explosions of white dwarfs, but their precise progenitor pathways remain unclear. Growing evidence supports the ``double-degenerate'' scenario, where two…
Type Ia supernovae, with their remarkably homogeneous light curves and spectra, have been used as standardizable candles to measure the accelerating expansion of the Universe. Yet, their progenitors remain elusive. Common explanations…
Recent observational evidence has demonstrated that white dwarf (WD) mergers are a highly efficient mechanism for mass accretion onto WDs in the galaxy. In this paper, we show that WD mergers naturally produce highly-magnetized,…
On the basis of the current observational evidence, we put forward the case that the merger of two CO white dwarfs produces both a Type Ia supernova explosion and a stellar remnant, the latter in the form of a magnetar. The estimated…
One of the most important questions regarding the progenitor systems of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) is whether mergers of two white dwarfs can lead to explosions that reproduce observations of normal events. Here we present a fully…
Massive stars are often found in multiple systems, yet how binary-star systems with very close separations ($\lesssim$ au) assemble remains unresolved. We investigate the formation and inward migration of massive-star binaries in…
The evolution of star clusters is studied using N-body simulations in which the evolution of single stars and binaries are taken self-consistently into account. Initial conditions are chosen to represent relatively young Galactic open…
Fundamental mysteries remain regarding the physics of Type Ia supernovae (SNIa) and their stellar progenitors. We argue here that important clues to these questions may emerge by the identification of those SNIa that occur in extragalactic…
In order for a white dwarf (WD) to achieve the Chandrasekhar mass, M_C, and explode as a Type Ia supernova (SNIa), it must interact with another star, either accreting matter from or merging with it. The failure to identify the types of…