Investigations of Binary Star Properties and Evolutionary Processes with the CHARA Array Interferometer

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Long baseline optical interferometry allows measurement (and even imaging) of structure on smaller scales than can be obtained even with the largest ground-based telescopes. The investigators will continue to make excellent use of Georgia State's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) interferometer array on Mt. Wilson in California. This is the only long-baseline optical interferometer run by a university, so it provides a unique opportunity for student training in this state-of-the art technology. Results from this program will be featured in undergraduate classes at Georgia State and in the southern California public outreach efforts of the Mt. Wilson Institute.The proposal presents a three-part investigation that will use the CHARA optical long-baseline interferometer array to determine fundamental stellar and circumstellar properties of stars in close binary systems before, during, and after they interact and exchange mass. The high angular resolution provided by interferometry will permit them to measure the orbits of over 200 non-interacting spectroscopic binaries, which will allow direct determination of component masses and indirect determination of other physical parameters. They will also be able to image circumstellar material in binary stars that are currently exchanging material. Finally, they will search for the poorly-stuied donor stars in a carefully-selected sample of systems that have already undergone mass transfer.