Structure and Evolution of Close Binary Systems

Abstract

When a contact binary expands so much that the stellar surface moves beyond the outer Lagrangian point, a common envelope binary is formed. The suggestion is made that while the two dense stellar nuclei spiral towards each other, the envelope expands and is eventually lost. Most of the angular momentum is lost with the envelope, and therefore the final orbital period may be orders of magnitude shorter than the initial period. V 471 Tau could have formed from a binary with a ten year orbital period. Most probably, cataclysmic variables are products of the evolution of systems like V 471 Tau. Observational discovery of a short period binary being a nucleus of planetary nebula would provide very important support for the evolutionary scenario presented in this paper.