Far-ultraviolet (FUV) observations with the Hubble Space Telescope are an excellent way to find and study the hot, blue stellar populations in the cores of globular clusters. These populations include dynamically formed blue stragglers and interacting binaries (such as cataclysmic variables, i.e. the products of stellar collisions and near misses. Using the cluster 47 Tuc as an example, we show how the combination of FUV imaging and slitless spectroscopy can be used to uncover and study these populations.

In dense stellar systems the frequent dynamical interactions between stars play a crucial role in the formation and evolution of compact binaries. We study these processes using a novel approach combining a state-of-the- art binary population synthesis code with a simple treatment of dynamical interactions in dense star cluster cores. Here we focus on the dynamical and evolutionary processes leading to the formation of compact binaries containing white dwarfs in dense globular clusters. We demonstrate that dynamics can increase by factors ~ 2 – 100 the production rates of interesting binaries such as cataclysmic variables, “nonflickerers” (He white dwarfs with a heavier dark companion), merging white dwarf binaries with total masses above the Chandrasekhar limit, and white dwarf binaries emitting gravitational waves in the LISA band.