Careful observational surveys indicate that most stars in our galaxy
are members of multiple star systems, and that most of these systems
contain pairs of stars so close to each other that they must interact
in the course of their evolution. This interaction gives rise to many
types of objects and phenomena which do not occur among single stars,
including stars in physical contact (the W UMa stars), Algol-type
binaries, novae, dwarf novae, X-ray binaries, binary pulsars,
symbiotic stars, barium stars, and many other unusual configurations.
Numerous unanswered questions remain concerning just what initial
conditions are required to produce these systems, what is their
evolutionary fate, and what other types of systems - still
unrecognized "missing links" - may be demanded by evolutionary models
in order to understand how they are related to each other. My
research involves building theoretical models and observational
inventories of these systems in an ongoing effort to define these
relationships.
Selected Publications:
Common Envelope Evolution and Formation of Cataclysmic Variables and
Low-Mass X-Ray Binaries. Webbink, R.F. in X-Ray Binaries and Recycled
Pulsars, ed. E.P.J. van den Heuvel and S.A. Rappaport (Dordrecht:
Kluwer), p. 269, 1992.
Formation of Low-Mass X-Ray Binaries. I. Constraints on Hydrogen-Rich
Donors at the Onset of the X-Ray Phase. Kalogera, V., and Webbink, R.F.
Astrophys. J. 458, 301, 1996.
A Catalog and Atlas of Cataclysmic Variables, 2nd Edition. Downes, R.A.,
Webbink, R.F., and Shara, M.M. Publications Astr. Soc. Pacific 109, in
press, 1997.
