Research Division Seminar
Revisiting mass transfer and accretion in symbiotic binaries in the Gaia era

Stellar binarity is a widespread phenomenon, and while binary systems are invaluable for determining fundamental stellar parameters, such as mass, without relying on external calibrations and for validating our theories of stellar structure and evolution, many open questions remain, especially related to the stages of evolution when the binary components interact. Symbiotic systems, consisting of a red giant and a compact companion, typically a white dwarf, are ideal for studying mass transfer and accretion processes. These systems exhibit a wide range of observable phenomena, ranging from thermonuclear outbursts through wind collisions to jet formation, and are among the widest interacting binaries, with orbital periods of hundreds to thousands of days.

Despite this, there are critical aspects of symbiotic systems that remain poorly understood, such as the mechanism of mass transfer from the giant to its companion, the presence of accretion disks, or the role of magnetic fields. These gaps limit our understanding of their population, progenitors, evolution, and fate. In this talk, I will focus on the processes of mass transfer and accretion in symbiotic binaries and discuss how combining space-based data from missions like Gaia and TESS with observing techniques such as interferometry, which has been rarely used for these systems, can provide new insights into these intriguing objects.