Effects of companions on the fates of evolved stars

Determine how the presence of stellar or planetary companions affects the evolutionary fates of stars, including the ways in which companions alter stellar evolution, mass loss, interactions, and eventual outcomes.

Background

The paper identifies binary and planetary companions as major influences on the evolution of giant and supergiant stars. Companion-driven phenomena may include mass transfer, tidal interactions, common-envelope evolution, mergers, enhanced mass loss, wind shaping, jet formation, and planetary engulfment. These processes can determine whether systems survive, merge, eject their envelopes, or produce diverse post-interaction objects.

Despite extensive observational and theoretical progress, the authors state that the overall effect of companions on stellar evolutionary outcomes remains a major unresolved issue. The proposed ALMA2040 facility is intended to provide empirical constraints by observing companions, accretion, outflows, orbital evolution, engulfment signatures, and post-interaction remnants across much larger samples.