White dwarf binaries suggest a common envelope efficiency α ∼ 1/3
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I modeled the evolutionary history of short period double white dwarf binaries, many of which have recently been discovered with the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). These binaries likely underwent a common envelope event which dramatically shrinking their orbits. I used MESA to create binary models representing both the states pre- and post-common envelope to estimate the energetic efficiency of the common envelope.
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