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One Transfer Efficiency Could Not Fit Both Populations
Binary-star grids changed contact and merger rates sharply when accretion was limited by stellar spin.
Summary
Binary-star grids changed contact and merger rates sharply when accretion was limited by stellar spin.
One-dimensional binary grids compare conservative transfer with a spin-limited prescription. The authors report contact fractions rising from 11 to 62 percent and mergers from 16 to 38 percent, concluding that one fixed efficiency cannot explain both Algol systems and stripped-star populations. The accepted paper is a population-model result, not a census update.
Why it matters
Binary-star grids changed contact and merger rates sharply when accretion was limited by stellar spin.
Limits and context
- The authors report contact fractions rising from 11 to 62 percent and mergers from 16 to 38 percent, concluding that one fixed efficiency cannot explain both Algol systems and stripped-star populations.
- The accepted paper is a population-model result, not a census update.
Key claims
Binary-star grids changed contact and merger rates sharply when accretion was limited by stellar spin.
Qualification: The authors report contact fractions rising from 11 to 62 percent and mergers from 16 to 38 percent, concluding that one fixed efficiency cannot explain both Algol systems and stripped-star populations.
Evidence: source-2026-08-06-021
Sources
- arXiv preprint 2608.05001arXiv · primary research
Corrections
No corrections have been recorded for this story.