Overview

• The peer-reviewed study, published in The Astrophysical Journal in October 2025, presents a generalized model linking tidal deformation, heating, and orbital evolution in double white dwarf systems.
• Calculations show tidally stressed white dwarfs can heat to roughly 10,000–30,000 K and inflate to about twice the radii predicted by standard cooling models at the onset of contact.
• The model predicts mass transfer can begin at orbital periods up to three times longer than earlier estimates, leading to faster subsequent evolution than previously assumed.
• Earlier interaction alters expected gravitational-wave emission signatures and may shift formation pathways for cataclysmic variables and Type Ia supernovae.
• The team plans to extend the framework to carbon–oxygen white dwarfs to assess implications for Type Ia progenitors, including the double-degenerate merger scenario.