Article

Common envelope evolution: where we stand and how we can move forward

Natalia IvanovaPhysics Department, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 3E1, CanadaStephen JusthamKavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, ChinaXiaodian ChenKey Laboratory for the Structure and Evolution of Celestial Objects, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650011, ChinaOrsola De MarcoDepartment of Physics & Astronomy, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, AustraliaChris L. FryerComputational Science Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, CCS-2, MS D409, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USAEvghenii GaburovCenter for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) & Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Rd, Evanston, IL, 60208, USAHongwei GeKey Laboratory for the Structure and Evolution of Celestial Objects, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650011, ChinaE. GlebbeekDepartment of Astrophysics/IMAPP, Radboud University, P.O. Box 9010, Nijmegen, The NetherlandsZhanwen HanKey Laboratory for the Structure and Evolution of Celestial Objects, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650011, ChinaXiang‐Dong LiDepartment of Astronomy and Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, ChinaGuoliang LüNational Astronomical Observatories/Urumqi Observatory, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, ChinaT. R. MarshDepartment of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UKPhilipp PodsiadlowskiSub-Department of Astronomy, Oxford University, Oxford, OX1 3RH, UKAdrian T. PotterInstitute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, The Observatories, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UKNoam SokerDepartment of Physics, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, IsraelRonald E. TaamAcademia Sinica Institute of Astrophysics and Astronomy-TIARA, P.O. Box 23-141, Taipei, 10617, TaiwanThomas M. TaurisArgelander-Insitut für Astronomie, Universität Bonn, Auf dem Hügel 71, 53121, Bonn, GermanyE. P. J. van den HeuvelR. F. WebbinkDepartment of Astronomy, University of Illinois, 1002 W. Green St., Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

2013en

ABI

Abstract

Abstract This work aims to present our current best physical understanding of common-envelope evolution (CEE). We highlight areas of consensus and disagreement, and stress ideas which should point the way forward for progress in this important but long-standing and largely unconquered problem. Unusually for CEE-related work, we mostly try to avoid relying on results from population synthesis or observations, in order to avoid potentially being misled by previous misunderstandings. As far as possible we debate all the relevant issues starting from physics alone, all the way from the evolution of the binary system immediately before CEE begins to the processes which might occur just after the ejection of the envelope. In particular, we include extensive discussion about the energy sources and sinks operating in CEE, and hence examine the foundations of the standard energy formalism. Special attention is also given to comparing the results of hydrodynamic simulations from different groups and to discussing the potential effect of initial conditions on the differences in the outcomes. We compare current numerical techniques for the problem of CEE and also whether more appropriate tools could and should be produced (including new formulations of computational hydrodynamics, and attempts to include 3D processes within 1D codes). Finally we explore new ways to link CEE with observations. We compare previous simulations of CEE to the recent outburst from V1309 Sco, and discuss to what extent post-common-envelope binaries and nebulae can provide information, e.g. from binary eccentricities, which is not currently being fully exploited.

Identifiers

DOI: 10.1007/s00159-013-0059-2

Citations and references

Cited by 20 references

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