List of suggested publications


Task :

  • Choose one of the papers from the list below or ask us if you want a paper on a specific topic.
  • Provide a manuscript of 10-15 page long discussing the main ideas/properties of the objects/phenomena developed in the paper. We don't want a translation nor a summary of the paper but a synthesis of the results/ideas that are presented.
  • Use the material provided to you during the lectures to illustrate/support your argumentation.
  • Focus on the main properties and have a look at other references. Avoid describing phenomena/processes that you do not understand.
  • Prepare a 10-15 minute oral presentation summarizing your paper.


All the references should be freely available from the ADS server

Papers on single star evolution

  • Evolution of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs
    Discuss the evolutionary and structural properties of low-mass stars and brown dwarf. Start your investigations with the paper by I.Baraffe, G. Chabrier, F. Allard & P.H. Hauschildt, 2002, A&A 382, 563 and proceed with the references therein.
  • Angular momentum evolution of solar-type stars
    Discuss the evolution of the rotational velocities of solar type stars. Start your investigations with the paper by S. Allain, 1998, A&A, 333, 629 and proceed with the references therein.
  • Mixing during core Helium burning
    Summarize the different mixing processes that can affect central helium burning and their consequences on core composition. Start your investigations with the paper by O. Straniero, I. Dominguez, G. Imbriani, L. Piersanti 2003, ApJ 583, 878 and proceed with the references therein.
  • Dependence of stellar evolution on nuclear reaction rates
    Discuss how the uncertainties on the nuclear reaction rates affect the chemical and structural evolution of stars. Start your investigations with the papers by G. Imbriani, H. Costantini, A. Formicola, et al., 2004, A&A 420, 625 and G. Imbriani, M. Limongi, L. Gialanella et al, 2001, ApJ 558, 903 and proceed with the references therein.
  • Gamma ray bursts
    Discuss the properties and theoretical models for gamma ray bursts. Start your investigations with the paper by S.E. Woosley, J.S. Bloom, 2006, ARA&A 44, 507 and proceed with the references therein.
  • Merging stellar-mass binary black holes
    Discuss the different scenarios or the formation of Gravitational Wave progenitors (Physcis Reports)
  • Sakurai's objects
    Discuss the evolutionary properties of Sakurai's object based on the following papers K. Werner, F. Herwig, 2006 PASA 118, 183 and F. Herwig, 2001, ApJ 554, L71
  • White dwarf cooling
    T. von Hippel, 2005, ApJ 622, 565 and proceed with the references therein.
  • Population III stars
    Summarize the main features of the evolution and nucleosynthesis of the first stars. Start your investigations with the papers by I. Picardi, A. Chieffi, M. Limongi, et al., 2004, ApJ 609, 1044 A. Chieffi, I. Dominguez, M. Limongi, 2001, ApJ 554, 1159 R. Hirschi, 2007, A&A 461, 571 and proceed with the references therein.
  • Wolf-Rayet star evolution - dependence on metallicity
    G. Meynet & A. Maeder, 2003, A&A 404, 975
    J.J. Eldridge, J.S. Vink, 2006, A&A 452, 295
  • Towards an understanding of Type Ia supernovae from a synthesis of theory and observations
    W. Hillebrandt, M. Kromer, F. K. Röpke, A. J. Ruiter Frontiers of Physics, Vol. 8 No. 2, 116–143
    Discuss the observational properties and explosion mechanisms leading to type Ia supernovae. You can find additional details in the (technical) review by W. Hillebrandt, J.C. Niemeyer, 2000 ARA&A 38, 191.
  • The fate of single massive stars
    Discuss how single massive stars end their Life as a function of their mass and composition. Start your investigations with the paper by A. Heger, C.L. Fryer, S. Woosley et al. 2003, ApJ 591, 288 and proceed with the references therein.
  • Critical masses in stellar evolution
    Discuss the existence of limiting masses that characterize the evolution of stars. Start your investigations with the papers by A. Maeder, G. Meynet, 1989, A&A 210, 155 and L. Siess 2007, A&A 476, 893-909 and proceed with the references therein.


Papers on binary star evolution

  • Common envelope evolution
    Discuss the theoretical understanding of CE based on section 2 of the following review by Ropke & de Marco (2023)
  • The formation of binary stars
    Discuss the mechanisms responsible for the formation of binary systems. Start your investigations with the paper by Tohline, J.E., 2002, ARA&A 40, 349 and proceed with the references therein.
  • Hydrogen Burning on Accreting White Dwarfs: Stability, Recurrent Novae, and the Post-nova Supersoft Phase
    Discuss the stability of nuclear burning as a function of mass accretion rate onto the white dwarf Wolf et al (2013)
  • Binary Interaction Dominates the Evolution of Massive Stars
    Discuss the likelyhood of binary interaction among massive stars based on the paper by Sana et al (2012)
  • Reconstructing the evolution of white dwarf binaries
    Discuss how one can reconstruct the evolutoin of binary systems based on the paper by Nelemas & Tout (2005)
  • Effects of rotation on the helium burning shell source in accreting white dwarfs
    Discuss the effects of rotation on the helium burning shell source and its consequences on the evolution accreting CO white dwarfs. Start your investigations with the paper by S.-C. Yoon, N. Langer, S. Scheithauer 2004, A&A 425, 217 and proceed with the references therein.
  • AM CVn stars
    Give a presentation of AM CVn stars starting with the paper by Gijs Nelemans
  • Evolutionary models for double helium white dwarf mergers and the formation of helium-rich hot subdwarfs
    Discuss the merger scenario for the formation of sdB stars based on the paper by Zhang & Jeffery