TAPIR Seminar

Binary and multiple stellar systems are common outcomes of the star formation process. More importantly, they account for a disproportionately large fraction of our knowledge on a wide array of topics from stellar structure to cosmology. In this talk I will discuss the intersection of binary formation and planet formation. I will describe several formation mechanisms for multiple star systems, and then discuss the importance of finding planets that reside in binary systems. I will focus on circumbinary planets around main-sequence stars. Finally, I will examine the evolution of these and other hierarchical systems, showing how the interplay between dynamics and stellar evolution can produce odd-ball evolved binaries, and frequent stellar collisions.