Related papers: Observed Planetary Nebulae as Descendants of Inter…
Planetary nebulae are formed by the matter ejected by low-to-intermediate mass stars (~0.8-8 times the mass of the Sun) towards the end of their lives. As hydrogen and then helium fuel sources run out, stars expand. During these giant…
We discuss the formation and evolution of binaries which contain neutron stars or black holes. It is shown that in a stellar system which for $10^{10}$ yr had star formation rate similar to the current one in the Galactic disc, the rate of…
In contrast to the field, the binaries in dense stellar systems are frequently not primordial, and could be either dynamically formed or significantly altered from their primordial states. Destruction and formation of binaries occur in…
We examine the possibility of detecting signatures of surviving Uranus-Neptune-like planets inside planetary nebulae. Planets that are not too close to the stars, orbital separation larger than about 5 AU, are likely to survive the entire…
The formation of massive stars is one of the major unsolved problems in stellar astrophysics. However, only few if any of these are found as single stars, on average massive stars have more than one companion. Many of them are born in dense…
We present a population synthesis calculation to derive the total number of planetary nebulae (PN) in the Galaxy that descend from single stars and stars in binary systems. Using the most recent literature results on galactic and stellar…
We investigate the possible progenitors of the planetary nebulae (PNs) which populate the top 0.5 mag of the [O III] 5007 planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF). We show that the absolute luminosity of the PNLF cutoff demands that the…
In dense stellar systems the frequent dynamical interactions between stars play a crucial role in the formation and evolution of compact binaries. We study these processes using a novel approach combining a state-of-the-art binary…
In this review I present the binary model for the shaping of planetary nebulae (PNe) as I view it, in the context of historical evolution of other models for the shaping of PNe over more than 30 years. In describing the binary model, I…
The obvious lack of the binary stellar systems that contain neutron stars (NS) is observed at present. Partly it is caused by the fact that it is very difficult to detect neutron star in a binary system if this relativistic component does…
Close binary interactions perform a key role in the formation and shaping of planetary nebulae. However only a small fraction of Galactic planetary nebulae are known to host close binary systems. Many such systems are detectable through…
It is widely believed that central star binarity plays an important role in the formation and evolution of aspherical planetary nebulae, however observational support for this hypothesis is lacking. Here, we present the most recent results…
Close binary central stars of planetary nebulae are key in constraining the poorly-understood common-envelope phase of evolution, which in turn is critical in understanding the formation of a wide-range of astrophysical phenomena (including…
The masses of compact objects like white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes are fundamental to astrophysics, but very difficult to measure. We present the results of an analysis of subluminous B (sdB) stars in close binary systems with…
We model the dynamics of test binaries in isotropic, multi-mass models of galactic globular clusters. The evolution of binary orbits through the cluster potentials is modeled, including second order diffusion terms, and probabilities for…
Stars are mostly found in binary and multiple systems, as at least 50% of all solar-like stars have companions - a fraction that goes up to 100% for the most massive stars. Moreover, a large fraction of them will interact in some way or…
A binary star system is the most common result of the star formation process, and binary companions can disrupt both the formation of terrestrial planets and their long term prospects for stability. We present results from a large set of…
White dwarfs are the most common endpoints of stellar evolution. They are often found in close binary systems in which the white dwarf is accreting matter from a companion star, either via an accretion disc or channelled along the white…
The stars that populate the solar neighbourhood were formed in stellar clusters. Through N-body simulations of these clusters, we measure the rate of close encounters between stars. By monitoring the interaction histories of each star, we…
A current issue in the study of planetary nebulae with close binary central stars is the extent to which the binaries affect the shaping of the nebulae. Recent studies have begun to show a high coincidence rate between nebulae with…