Wolfgang

Most supernovae should occur in binaries. Massive stars, the progenitors of core collapse supernovae (SN II/Ib/c), have a very high binarity fraction of 80% (on average, they have 1.5 companions). Binary systems are also required to produce thermonuclear supernovae (SN Ia). Understanding the role that binarity plays in pre-supernova evolution is one of the great mysteries in supernova research. Finding and studying surviving companions of supernovae has the power to shed light on some of these mysteries. Searching Galactic and nearby supernova remnants for surviving companions is a particularly powerful technique. This might allow to study the surviving companion in great detail possibly enabling a relatively detailed reconstruction of the pre-supernova evolution.
In this talk, I will summarize the multitude of theoretical studies that have simulated the impact of the shockwave on the companion star and the subsequent evolution of the survivor. I will then give an overview of the searches that used these theoretical findings to identify surviving companions in nearby supernova remnants as well as their results. Finally, I will give an outlook of new opportunities in the relatively young field.