Hydrodynamics of Stellar Mergers and the Formation of Blue Stragglers

Abstract

The hydrodynamics of stellar collisions and mergers is discussed in the context of blue straggler formation. Emphasis is placed on the very important question of hydrodynamic mixing during the merger process. Recent results of three-dimensional hydrodynamic calculations suggest that the merger remnants produced by stellar collisions are typically {\em not\/} well-mixed. However, comparisons between the observed colors and numbers of blue stragglers in dense clusters and the predictions of theoretical calculations for their stellar evolution appear to require that the initial blue-straggler models be close to chemically homogeneous. The resolution of this apparent conflict is likely to involve the development of convection or other thermal instabilitites that can provide efficient mixing during the contraction of the merger remnant to a thermal equilibrium state on the main sequence.