Common Envelope Evolution

Common envelope evolution is the most important phase in the lives of many significant classes of binary stars. During a common envelope phase, the stars temporarily share the same outer layers, with the cores of both stars orbiting inside the same common envelope. This common envelope is sometimes ejected and helps to explain the formation of a wide variety of astrophysical phenomena, including cataclysmic variables, X-ray binaries, progenitors for type Ia supernovae, and gravitational-wave mergers.

Modeling common envelope evolution is a challenging problem, and this important process has typically been described in evolutionary models using very approximate treatments. This book explains the physics of common envelope evolution and relates it to the approximations that are frequently used for modeling the onset, progression, and outcome of common envelope phases.

Key Features

• The first book dedicated to the topic
• Written by world-leading experts in the field
• Provides a thorough overview of theoretical foundations and state-of-art numerical models
• Suitable for graduate students and researchers

Natalia Ivanova is a Professor of theoretical and computational astrophysics within the Physics Department, University of Alberta. Her scientific interests include everything about the understanding of single, binary, multiple stars and clusters of them, stellar physics, and numerical codes that can create a star or many of them inside a computer. In 2010, she was appointed as Canada Research Chair in astronomy and astrophysics.

Stephen Justham is currently based at the University of Amsterdam, where he is an acting group leader, on extended leave from a Professorship at the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on understanding the physics and consequences of stellar interactions, including how those help to explain the observed variety of stellar systems and explosive transients.

Paul Ricker is a Professor of astronomy at the University of Illinois. His primary research interests lie in the application of hydrodynamical simulation to galaxy clusters and interacting binary stars. He is one of the principal authors of the widely-used Flash simulation code, sharing in the 2000 Gordon Bell Prize and, in 2001, he received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).