Evolutionary Processes in Binary and Multiple Stars

Binary systems of stars are as common as single stars. Stars evolve primarily by nuclear reactions in their interiors, but a star with a binary companion can also have its evolution influenced by the companion. Multiple star systems can exist in a stable state for millions of years, but can ultimately become unstable as one star grows in radius until it engulfs another. This volume discusses the statistics of binary stars; the evolution of single stars; and several of the most important kinds of interaction between two (and even three or more) stars. A series of mathematical appendices provides a concise but complete account of the mathematics of these processes.

Reviews & endorsements

Review of the hardback: '… I know of no book quite like Peter Eggleton's monograph, which describes in great detail stellar evolution in the context of binary and to some extent multiple stars, but also gives a masterly and comprehensive one-chapter summary of single-star evolution, in a very concise style. Anyone who masters the contents will have a deep understanding of the processes involved and of the approximations that are necessary to make progress. … the writing is clear and readable … the text is full of nice phrases that are accessible to everyone … A nice feature of the book, that will make it more accessible to non-experts, is that the detailed mathematical justifications have mostly been placed in the appendices that take up the last 50 pages of the book … a remarkable book … it is authoritative and comprehensive and will be a fruitful source of ideas for those working in the field. It should also persuade our extragalactic colleagues that stellar evolution is still a topic with lots of interesting unsolved problems.' The Observatory

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Product details

• Date Published: July 2006
• format: Hardback
• isbn: 9780521855570
• length: 332 pages

• dimensions: 244 x 170 x 19 mm
• weight: 0.83kg
• availability: Available