The Common Envelope Binary Interaction: the problem we used to have solved.
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Professor, Macquarie University
All evolved compact binaries including at least one black hole, neutron star or white dwarf are likely to have gone through at least one common envelope interaction, where the progenitors of the binary found themselves in spiraling towards one another while sharing a gaseous envelope. The common envelope phase transforms the binary into a completely different object, and sometimes is responsible for two stars actually merging with concomitant outburst of energy. This transformation depends on the details of the physical interaction, something we have not yet understood. I will present 3D hydrodynamics simulations and how they can ameliorate the situation. Only a full understanding of the common envelope interaction will allow us to interpret observations of exploding and outbursting stars, to understand the numbers and phenomenology of scores of binaries such as cataclysmic variables or X-ray binaries, as well as determine the evolution that leads to neutron star and black hole mergers such as those emitting detectable gravitational waves.