"Strong, dusty binary interactions, and the transients they cause"

I will describe current efforts to model strong binary interactions, such as common envelopes, using 3D hydrodynamic codes and connect these simulations to a number of diverse observations, particularly those of a type of transient known as luminous red novae. In particular I will discuss the implementation of dust nucleation in simulations, a necessary ingredient to connect simulations to the observed light curves of the objects.