EVOLUTION OF COMPACT BINARIES
Viña del Mar, Chile
6–11 March 2011
The aim of this international workshop was to bring together astronomers
from different communities to concentrate on the specfic topic of compactbinary
evolution, which during the last few years has evolved to be one of the
most active areas of research within the various compact binary communities.
The classification of a compact binary system is generally defined by the nature
of the compact component (white dwarf, neutron star, or black hole) and the
evolutionary state of the secondary star (dwarf, giant or supergiant). The many
possible combinations make for a variety of dierent avours, most of which
have a whole community of astronomers researching them. Still, the evolution
of all these different objects is driven by a common mechanism: angular
momentum loss. The understanding of this physical phenomenon was one of
the main objectives for this workshop.
The sessions followed the chronological time-line of binary evolution and
included:
(1) Introduction to Compact Binaries
(2) Formation of Close Binaries
(3) Common Envelope Physics
(4) The Post Common Envelope Phase
(5) The Contact Phase
(6) Graveyard or Boom
(7) Instruments, Telescopes, and Tools
The workshop was jointly organised by the European Southern Observatory
and the Universidad de Valparaíso. The program consisted of 11 invited review
talks, 42 contributed talks, and 10 poster presentations, most of which are
included in this proceedings volume. In total, 68 participants contributed to
the many fruitful discussions and the success of this workshop.