Evolved stars, multiplicity and planets: Shaping and Being Shaped by Stellar Evolution

Abstract: Understanding how planets and stellar companions survive and interact with their host stars as they evolve, or are ultimately destroyed in the process, is essential both for predicting the long-term future of planetary systems like our own and the contribution of stars to galactic chemical evolution. In this white paper, we discuss how the next generation ALMA (ALMA2040) will revolutionize our understanding of the key processes by detecting and characterising accreting companions and planetary engulfment signatures in hundreds of systems with evolved stars.