{
  "id": "2411.18470",
  "version": "v1",
  "published": "2024-11-27T16:05:29.000Z",
  "updated": "2024-11-27T16:05:29.000Z",
  "title": "The importance of binary stars",
  "authors": [
    "Henri M. J. Boffin",
    "David Jones"
  ],
  "comment": "Review paper to appear in the special issue of Contributions of the Astronomical Observatory Skalnate Pleso \"Binary and Multiple Stars in the Era of Big Sky Surveys\" (Kopal 2024)",
  "categories": [
    "astro-ph.SR",
    "astro-ph.EP"
  ],
  "abstract": "Stars are mostly found in binary and multiple systems, as at least 50% of all solar-like stars have companions - a fraction that goes up to 100% for the most massive stars. Moreover, a large fraction of them will interact in some way or another over the course of their lives. Such interactions can, and often will, alter the structure and evolution of both components in the system. This will, in turn, lead to the production of exotic objects whose existence cannot be explained by standard single star evolution models, including gravitational wave progenitors, blue stragglers, symbiotic and barium stars, novae, and supernovae. More generally, binary stars prove crucial in many aspects, ranging from cultural ones, to constraining models of stellar evolution, star formation, and even, possibly, of gravity itself. They also provide a quasi-model independent way to determine stellar masses, radii, and luminosities. We here provide a brief summary of the importance of binary stars.",
  "revisions": [
    {
      "version": "v1",
      "updated": "2024-11-27T16:05:29.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "analyses": {
    "keywords": [
      "binary stars",
      "importance",
      "standard single star evolution models",
      "gravitational wave progenitors",
      "quasi-model independent way"
    ],
    "note": {
      "typesetting": "TeX",
      "pages": 0,
      "language": "en",
      "license": "arXiv",
      "status": "editable"
    }
  }
}