Date: 13.05.2025

Ondřej Pejcha (Prague,CZ)

Exploring common envelope evolution across 1D, 2D, and 3D

Abstract:
One of the key formation channels for compact object binaries, including sources of gravitational waves, critically depends on a violent phase of binary star interaction known as common envelope evolution (CEE), which leads to the rapid loss of mass, angular momentum, and energy. Despite its central role in binary evolution, CEE has remained one of the most challenging and unresolved problems in stellar astrophysics, with most observational insights limited to indirect evidence from progenitor or remnant systems. However, recent studies have linked the dynamical phase of CEE to a class of optical transients known as Luminous Red Novae (LRNe), which are characterized by slow outflows and prolific dust and molecule formation. In this talk, I will provide an overview of CEE and present recent results from my group that shed light on its dynamics through 1D models, as well as 2D and 3D hydrodynamical simulations.