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Using Eggleton's stellar evolution code, we carry out 150 runs of Population I binary evolution calculations with the initial primary mass between 1 and 8 M⊙, the initial mass ratio between 1.1 and 4, and the onset of Roche lobe overflow (RLOF) at an early, middle or late Hertzsprung‐gap stage. We assume that RLOF is conservative in the calculations, and find that the remnant mass of the primary may change by more than 40 per cent over the range of initial mass ratio or orbital period, for a given primary mass. This is contrary to the often‐held belief that the remnant mass depends only on the progenitor mass if mass transfer begins in the Hertzsprung gap. We fit a formula, with an error less than 3.6 per cent, for the remnant (white dwarf) mass as a function of the initial mass M1i of the primary, the initial mass ratio qi and the radius of the primary at the onset of RLOF. We also find that a carbon–oxygen white dwarf with mass as low as 0.33 M⊙ may be formed if the initial mass of the primary is around 2.5 M⊙.

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One possible scenario for the formation of carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars is the accretion of carbon-rich material from a binary companion which may no longer visible. It is generally assumed that the accreted material remains on the surface of the star and does not mix with the interior until first dredge-up. However, thermohaline mixing should mix the accreted material with the original stellar material as it has a higher mean molecular weight. We investigate the effect that this has on the surface abundances by modelling a binary system of metallicity Z = 10 −4 with a 2 M ⊙ primary star and a 0.74 M ⊙ secondary star in an initial orbit of 4000 days. The accretion of material from the wind of the primary leads to the formation of a carbon-rich secondary. We find that the accreted material mixes fairly rapidly throughout 90% of the star, with important consequences for the surface composition. Models with thermohaline mixing predict very different surface abundances after first dredge-up compared to canonical models of stellar evolution.

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