Binary systems, their evolution and environments
More than half of all stars form part of binary or higher-order multiple systems at least temporarily during their lifetimes. Yet, the highly successful field of stellar population synthesis all but ignores the presence of large fractions of stellar multiplicity. During this conference, we aim at bringing together observers, theorists and modellers to explore the synergies among the closely related fields focusing on stellar evolution and stellar dynamics, with particular emphasis on the contributions and properties of binary and higher-order mulitple systems. Although we aim at addressing the key issues in these rapidly evolving areas from a population synthesis perspetive, we will pay special attention to those individual stellar species that contribute most significantly to the stellar population properties that are most uniquely related to stellar multiplicity.
In particular, the conference programme will be compiled around five main themes, i.e.,
- Formation of stellar multiplicity: binaries, triples and higher-order multiples;
- Stellar and binary evolution across the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (including the chemical evolution of globular clusters and their host galaxies);
- Dynamics of binaries and higher-order multiple systems;
- Low-mass binary systems: population synthesis (SNe Ia, CVs, UV-upturn, transient events, etc.);
- High-mass binary systems: population synthesis (LBVs, WR, blue supergiants, runaway stars, X-/gamma-ray binaries, binary- induced chemical signatures in massive stars, SNe II and SN Ib/c, spectral synthesis of starbursts, end products of massive binary evolution, etc.).