The thermal equilibrium mass loss model and its applications in binary evolution

Understand

Binary evolution is indispensable in stellar evolution to understand the formation and evolution of most peculiar and energetic objects, such as binary compact objects, Type Ia supernovae, X-ray binaries, cataclysmic variables, blue stragglers, hot subdwarfs, and central binaries in planetary nebulae.

• Mass transfer in binary stars can change the evolutionary path and fate of the corresponding objects relative to what is expected from single stellar evolution.
• What is the critical mass ratio at which unstable mass transfer occurs is an unsolved fundamental problem in binary evolution.
• To resolve this issue, we construct the thermal equilibrium mass loss model and derive critical mass ratios for both thermal timescale mass transfer and unstable mass transfer, the latter of which occurs when the outer Lagrangian point, L2, is overfilled.