papers

Publications (36)

astro-ph2006

Eclipsing binaries in extrasolar planet transit surveys: the case of SuperWASP

B. Willems, U. Kolb, S. Justham

Using a comprehensive binary population synthesis scheme, we investigate the statistical properties of a sample of eclipsing binaries that is detectable by an idealised extrasolar…

astro-ph.SR2019

Massive runaways and walkaway stars

M. Renzo, E. Zapartas, S. E. de Mink +6

Anticipating the kinematic constraints from the Gaia mission, we perform an extensive numerical study of the evolution of massive binary systems to predict the peculiar velocities…

astro-ph2007

Detection of circumstellar material in a normal Type Ia Supernova

F. Patat, P. Chandra, R. Chevalier +19

Type Ia supernovae are thought to be thermonuclear explosions of accreting white dwarfs that reach a critical mass limit. Despite their importance as cosmological distance indicato…

astro-ph2005

Magnetic Braking of Ap/Bp Stars: Application to Compact Black-Hole X-Ray Binaries

S. Justham, S. Rappaport, Ph. Podsiadlowski

We examine the proposal that the subset of neutron-star and black-hole X-ray binaries that form with Ap or Bp star companions will experience systemic angular-momentum losses due t…

astro-ph.SR2022

Rejuvenated accretors have less bound envelopes: Impact of Roche lobe overflow on subsequent common envelope events

M. Renzo, E. Zapartas, S. Justham +5

Common-envelope (CE) evolution is an outstanding open problem in stellar evolution, critical to the formation of compact binaries including gravitational-wave sources. In the ``cla…

astro-ph.HE2012

Common Envelope Evolution: Where we stand and how we can move forward

N. Ivanova, S. Justham, X. Chen +16

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 shoul…

astro-ph.SR2023

A self-synthesized origin of heavy metals in hot subdwarf stars?

T. Battich, M. M. Miller Bertolami, A. M. Serenelli +2

Some He-rich hot subdwarf stars (He-sdOBs) present high abundances of trans-iron elements, such as Sr, Y, Zr and Pb. Diffusion processes are important in hot subdwarf stars, and it…

astro-ph.SR2018

Gaia and HST astrometry of the very massive 150 candidate runaway star VFTS682

M. Renzo, S. E. de Mink, D. J. Lennon +12

How very massive stars form is still an open question in astrophysics. VFTS682 is among the most massive stars known, with an inferred initial mass of 150 . It is l…

astro-ph.HE2022

No peaks without valleys: The stable mass transfer channel for gravitational-wave sources in light of the neutron star-black hole mass gap

L. A. C. van Son, S. E. de Mink, M. Renzo +6

Gravitational-wave (GW) detections are starting to reveal features in the mass distribution of double compact objects. The lower end of the black hole (BH) mass distribution is esp…

astro-ph.SR2025

The -processes nucleosynthesis during the formation of He-rich hot-subdwarf stars

T. Battich, M. M. Miller Bertolami, A. Weiss +3

It has been shown that proton ingestion episodes can happen in the formation of hot-subdwarf stars, and that neutron-capture processes are possible in those cases. Moreover, some h…

astro-ph.SR2023

Observational predictions for Thorne-Żytkow objects

R. Farmer, M. Renzo, Y. Götberg +3

Thorne-ytkow objects (TO) are potential end products of the merger of a neutron star with a non-degenerate star. In this work, we have computed the first grid of evolutiona…

astro-ph.SR2026

A 500 pc volume-limited sample of hot subluminous stars II. Atmospheric parameters, mass distribution, and kinematics

H. Dawson, M. Dorsch, S. Geier +30

We present a quantitative spectroscopic and kinematic analysis of a volume-complete sample of hot subluminous stars within 500 pc of the Sun, assembled using accurate parallax meas…

astro-ph.SR2014

On the role of recombination in common-envelope ejections

N. Ivanova, S. Justham, Ph. Podsiadlowski

The energy budget in common-envelope events (CEEs) is not well understood, with substantial uncertainty even over to what extent the recombination energy stored in ionised hydrogen…

astro-ph.SR2026

One's loss is (not) another's gain: Isotropic re-emission destabilizes mass transfer from radiative donor stars

K. D. Temmink, S. Justham, O. R. Pols

Non-conservative mass transfer plays a central role in close-binary evolution, yet its effects on mass-transfer stability are uncertain. One widely adopted prescription, isotropic…

astro-ph.SR2024

A 500 pc volume-limited sample of hot subluminous stars I. Space density, scale height, and population properties

H. Dawson, S. Geier, U. Heber +25

We present the first volume-limited sample of spectroscopically confirmed hot subluminous stars out to 500 pc, defined using the accurate parallax measurements from the {\em Gaia}…

astro-ph.HE2020

The Formation of a 70 Msun Black Hole at High Metallicity

K. Belczynski, R. Hirschi, E. A. Kaiser +7

A 70Msun BH was discovered in Milky Way disk in a long period and almost circular detached binary system (LB-1) with a high metallicity 8Msun B star companion. Current consensus on…

astro-ph.SR2022

Shell helium-burning hot subdwarf B stars as candidates for blue large-amplitude pulsators

H. Xiong, L. Casagrande, X. Chen +7

Blue large-amplitude pulsators (BLAPs) are a newly discovered type of variable star. Their typical pulsation periods are on the order of a few tens of minutes, with relatively larg…

astro-ph.SR2022

Discovery of a highly magnetic He-sdO star from a double-degenerate binary merger

M. Dorsch, N. Reindl, I. Pelisoli +4

Helium-rich hot subdwarf stars of spectral type O (He-sdO) are considered prime candidates for stellar merger remnants. Such events should lead to the generation of strong magnetic…

astro-ph2007

Upper limit for circumstellar gas around the Type Ia SN 2000cx

F. Patat, S. Benetti, S. Justham +8

The nature of the companion stars in Type Ia Supernova (SNe) progenitor systems remains unclear. One possible way to discriminate between different scenarios is the presence (or ab…

astro-ph.SR2022

Properties and applications of a predicted population of runaway He-sdO/B stars ejected from single degenerate He-donor SNe

P. Neunteufel, H. Preece, M. Kruckow +4

This study builds on previous works, producing the most extensive prediction of the properties of such a hypothetical population to date, taking into account both Chandrasekhar and…

astro-ph.SR2020

Sensitivity of the lower-edge of the pair instability black hole mass gap to the treatment of time dependent convection

M. Renzo, R. J. Farmer, S. Justham +3

Gravitational-wave detections are now probing the black hole (BH) mass distribution, including the predicted pair-instability mass gap. These data require robust quantitative predi…

astro-ph.SR2020

The expansion of stripped-envelope stars: consequences for supernovae and gravitational-wave progenitors

E. Laplace, Y. Götberg, S. E. de Mink +2

Massive binaries that merge as compact objects are the progenitors of gravitational-wave sources. Most of these binaries experience one or more phases of mass transfer, during whic…

astro-ph.HE2022

The redshift evolution of the binary black hole merger rate: a weighty matter

L. A. C. van Son, S. E. de Mink, T. Callister +7

Gravitational wave detectors are starting to reveal the redshift evolution of the binary black hole (BBH) merger rate, . We make predictions for $R_{\mathrm{BB…

astro-ph.SR2023

Nucleosynthesis of binary-stripped stars

R. Farmer, E. Laplace, Jing-ze Ma +2

The cosmic origin of the elements, the fundamental chemical building blocks of the Universe, is still uncertain. Binary interactions play a key role in the evolution of many massiv…

astro-ph.HE2020

Polluting the pair-instability mass gap for binary black holes through super-Eddington accretion in isolated binaries

L. A. C. van Son, S. E. de Mink, F. S. Broekgaarden +6

The theory for single stellar evolution predicts a gap in the mass distribution of black holes (BHs) between approximately 45-130M, the so-called "pair-instability mass g…

astro-ph.HE2013

Identification of the Long-Sought Common-Envelope Events

N. Ivanova, S. Justham, J. L. Avendano Nandez +1

Common-envelope events (CEEs), during which two stars temporarily orbit within a shared envelope, are believed to be vital for the formation of a wide range of close binaries. For…

astro-ph2005

Models of Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources with Intermediate-Mass Black Holes

N. Madhusudhan, S. Justham, L. Nelson +4

We have computed models for ultraluminous X-ray sources ("ULXs") consisting of a black-hole accretor of intermediate mass ("IMBH"; e.g., ~1000 Msun) and a captured donor star. For…

astro-ph.SR2021

The cosmic carbon footprint of massive stars stripped in binary systems

R. Farmer, E. Laplace, S. E. de Mink +1

The cosmic origin of carbon, a fundamental building block of life, is still uncertain. Yield predictions for massive stars are almost exclusively based on single star models, even…

astro-ph.SR2020

Predictions for the hydrogen-free ejecta of pulsational pair-instability supernovae

M. Renzo, R. Farmer, S. Justham +5

Present time-domain astronomy efforts will unveil a variety of rare transients. We focus here on pulsational pair-instability evolution, which can result in signatures observable w…

astro-ph.SR2019

Mind the gap: The location of the lower edge of the pair instability supernovae black hole mass gap

R. Farmer, M. Renzo, S. E de Mink +2

Gravitational-wave detections are now starting to probe the mass distribution of stellar-mass black holes (BHs). Robust predictions from stellar models are needed to interpret thes…

astro-ph.SR2021

Different to the core: the pre-supernova structures of massive single and binary-stripped stars

E. Laplace, S. Justham, M. Renzo +4

The majority of massive stars live in binary or multiple systems and will interact during their lifetimes, which helps to explain the observed diversity of core-collapse supernovae…

astro-ph.SR2025

Binary mass transfer in 3D: Mass Transfer Rate and Morphology

T. Ryu, R. Sari, S. E. de Mink +6

Mass transfer is crucial in binary evolution, yet its theoretical treatment has long relied on analytic models whose key assumptions remain debated. We present a direct and systema…

astro-ph.SR2014

SDSSJ001153.08-064739.2, a cataclysmic variable with an evolved donor in the period gap

A. Rebassa-Mansergas, S. G. Parsons, C. M. Copperwheat +5

Secondary stars in cataclysmic variables (CVs) follow a well defined period-density relation. Thus, canonical donor stars in CVs are generally low-mass stars of spectral type M. Ho…

astro-ph.SR2025

Binarity at LOw Metallicity (BLOeM): a spectroscopic VLT monitoring survey of massive stars in the SMC

T. Shenar, J. Bodensteiner, H. Sana +74

Surveys in the Milky Way and Large Magellanic Cloud revealed that the majority of massive stars will interact with companions during their lives. However, knowledge of the binary p…

astro-ph.SR2025

A high fraction of close massive binary stars at low metallicity

H. Sana, T. Shenar, J. Bodensteiner +74

At high metallicity, a majority of massive stars have at least one close stellar companion. The evolution of such binaries is subject to strong interaction processes, heavily impac…

astro-ph.SR2025

Coping with loss: Stability of mass transfer from post-main sequence donor stars

K. D. Temmink, O. R. Pols, S. Justham +2

The stability of mass transfer is critical in determining pathways towards various kinds of compact binaries, such as compact main-sequence white-dwarf binaries, and transients, su…