The Evolution of Compact Binary Star Systems

We review the formation and evolution of compact binary stars consisting of white dwarfs (WDs), neutron stars (NSs), and black holes (BHs). Mergings of compact-star binaries are expected to be the most important sources for forthcoming gravitational-wave (GW) astronomy. In the first part of the revi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inLiving reviews in relativity Vol. 17; no. 1; p. 3
Main Authors Postnov, Konstantin A., Yungelson, Lev R.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cham Springer International Publishing 01.01.2014
Springer Nature B.V
SpringerOpen
Subjects
AM CVn stars
Astronomy
Astrophysics
Astrophysics and Astroparticles
Binary stars
Binary systems
Black holes
Classical and Quantum Gravitation
Cosmology
Gravitational waves
Gravitational-wave sources
Massive stars
Neutron stars
Physics
Progenitors (astrophysics)
Relativity Theory
Review
Review Article
Stellar evolution
Stellar system evolution
Stellar systems
Supernovae
White dwarf stars
White dwarfs
Gravitational-wave sources
Neutron stars
Astrophysics
Supernovae
Black holes
Binary systems
AM CVn stars
White dwarfs
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:We review the formation and evolution of compact binary stars consisting of white dwarfs (WDs), neutron stars (NSs), and black holes (BHs). Mergings of compact-star binaries are expected to be the most important sources for forthcoming gravitational-wave (GW) astronomy. In the first part of the review, we discuss observational manifestations of close binaries with NS and/or BH components and their merger rate, crucial points in the formation and evolution of compact stars in binary systems, including the treatment of the natal kicks, which NSs and BHs acquire during the core collapse of massive stars and the common envelope phase of binary evolution, which are most relevant to the merging rates of NS-NS, NS-BH and BH-BH binaries. The second part of the review is devoted mainly to the formation and evolution of binary WDs and their observational manifestations, including their role as progenitors of cosmologically-important thermonuclear SN Ia. We also consider AM CVn-stars, which are thought to be the best verification binary GW sources for future low-frequency GW space interferometers.
Bibliography:new_version
ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-3
content type line 23
ObjectType-Review-1
ISSN:2367-3613
1433-8351
1433-8351
DOI:10.12942/lrr-2014-3