# White dwarf pollution in wide binaries I: the effects of stellar evolution

**Authors:** Constanza Norambuena, Carolina Charalambous, Claudia Aguilera-Gómez  
**arXiv:** [2610.28896](https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.28896)  
**Date:** 2026-10-20  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/arxiv-id/2610.28896v1/

## Key points

- The study investigates how distant stellar companions and stellar mass-loss histories affect the delivery of rocky debris onto white dwarfs, causing atmospheric metal pollution.
- The authors use REBOUND N-body simulations with MESA stellar-evolution tracks and tidal interactions, modeling a wide stellar companion, a Jupiter-mass planet, and a planetesimal disc.
- Binary orbital architecture is the dominant factor governing pollution outcomes, outweighing differences between the two tested stellar mass-loss histories.
- Stellar-evolution models have little effect on the giant planet’s survival but influence the timing and efficiency of planetesimal delivery during the white dwarf phase.
- Among the configurations studied, wider binaries produce the highest accretion rates and retain planetesimal reservoirs longer, potentially sustaining pollution for billions of years.
- The reported trends are described as consistent with the observed prevalence of polluted white dwarfs in wide binaries.
- These conclusions apply only to the stellar-evolution prescriptions and planetary configurations examined; the title and abstract alone do not provide quantitative results or enough methodological detail to assess robustness.

## Summary

“White dwarf pollution in wide binaries I: the effects of stellar evolution,” by Constanza Norambuena, Carolina Charalambous, and Claudia Aguilera-Gómez, examines how a distant stellar companion influences the delivery of rocky material onto a white dwarf. Heavy elements in white dwarf atmospheres are interpreted as evidence of ongoing accretion from the remnants of planetary systems. In wide binaries, a companion star can perturb planets and smaller bodies, potentially directing debris toward the white dwarf. The study asks whether uncertainties in the host star’s mass-loss history substantially affect this process or whether the binary’s orbital architecture plays a greater role. This summary is based solely on the available title and abstract. Detailed numerical results and methodological specifications could not be verified without access to the full text. The authors use N-body simulations performed with REBOUND, incorporating time-dependent stellar properties interpolated from MESA stellar-evolution tracks and accounting for tidal interactions. They follow the systems through the host star’s evolution into a white dwarf. Each model system contains a wide stellar companion, a Jupiter-mass planet, and a disc of planetesimals that serves as a potential source of rocky debris. By comparing two stellar-evolution models with distinct mass-loss histories across different binary architectures, the authors assess the relative effects of stellar evolution and binary configuration on planetary survival and debris delivery. The choice of stellar-evolution model has only a minor effect on the survival of the Jupiter-mass planet. Differences in mass-loss history primarily influence the timing and efficiency of planetesimal delivery during the white dwarf phase. Although stellar evolution affects accretion, the abstract identifies binary architecture as the dominant factor governing pollution outcomes. Among the systems explored, wider binaries produce the highest accretion rates onto the white dwarf. The authors describe this result as consistent with the observed prevalence of polluted white dwarfs in wide binaries. They also find that planetesimal reservoirs persist longer as binary separation increases, potentially sustaining metal pollution over billions of years. The abstract does not provide exact binary separations, accretion rates, survival fractions, simulation counts, or quantitative differences between the stellar-evolution models. It therefore does not support a more precise numerical assessment. Overall, the study concludes that wide-binary architecture matters more than the tested uncertainties in stellar mass-loss history for the dynamical delivery of rocky material onto white dwarfs. Distant companions may help preserve debris reservoirs while enabling material to reach the white dwarf over extended periods. This conclusion applies to the two stellar-evolution prescriptions and the planetary configurations examined, rather than to all possible systems. Access to the full text would be necessary to evaluate the numerical resolution, tidal treatment, parameter ranges, and statistical robustness of the reported trends.