Stellar mass loss is enormously important for a wide range of astronomical subfields from galactic feedback to stellar evolution, and is particularly vital for understanding time-dependent and transient phenomena like supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, and neutron star and black hole mergers. Despite years of study, it remains poorly understood, and the physical mechanisms driving mass loss remain unclear - especially in the case of stellar binaries. The binary star system V367 Cyg's complex structure offers a unique testing ground for binary mass loss theories. The more evolved star in the system is losing mass that is accreting onto the secondary star, creating a thick disk around it. The thick disk and small separation between the stars prevents us from directly observing the mass transfer, but we can investigate the structure of the V367 Cyg system using polarimetry - the analysis of polarized light - to disentangle its complex spectrum originating from multiple sources. I will discuss the disk-stream geometry of V367 Cyg using new polarization light curves of the system which I extracted from 7 years of spectropolarimetric data taken with the University of Wisconsin’s Half-Wave Spectropolarimeter (HPOL).

Wealth inequality in the U.S. is at an extremely high level and continues to grow. In 2010, the wealthiest 10% owned 70% of total wealth, a percentage close to the level in 1930. The gross wealth disparity that characterizes the contemporary U.S. is one of the most pressing economic and political issues of our times. In this work, I present agapism as an alternate philosophical system of ethics to address the debilitating wealth inequality in the U.S. today. Agapism is an ethical system based on the commandment in the Pentateuch to love one's neighbor as oneself. Traditionally, academic philosophy has overlooked agapism as an ethical system because its foundational sources are of religious origin rather than grounded in philosophical texts. However, agapism is a robust ethical system that provides compelling moral reasons for government wealth redistribution. In my work, I detail the moral and philosophical reasons for wealth redistribution that arise from the agapist tradition and explore the kinds of moral obligations agapism imposes on individuals and communities. Though agapism’s foundational sources include those of Christian origin, I consider and respond to Christian arguments against government wealth redistribution and Christian arguments that make a weaker case for wealth redistribution than agapism calls for. I also consider and respond to arguments regarding the proper and just distribution of wealth from influential secular figures in contemporary moral philosophy, including John Rawls and Robert Nozick. Among other issues, I consider their perspectives on how wealth should be justly distributed, as well as the government’s role in wealth redistribution.