  Physical collisions and close approaches between stars play an important role
in the formation of exotic stellar systems. Standard theories suggest that
collisions are rare, occurring only via random encounters between stars in
dense clusters. We present a different formation pathway, the triple evolution
dynamical instability (TEDI), in which mass loss in an evolving triple star
system causes orbital instability. The subsequent chaotic orbital evolution of
the stars triggers close encounters, collisions, exchanges between the stellar
components, and the dynamical formation of eccentric compact binaries
(including Sirius like binaries). We demonstrate that the rate of stellar
collisions due to the TEDI is approximately 10^{-4} yr^{-1} per Milky-Way
Galaxy, which is nearly 30 times higher than the total collision rate due to
random encounters in the Galactic globular clusters. Moreover, we find that the
dominant type of stellar collisions is qualitatively different; most collisions
involve asymptotic giant branch stars, rather than main sequence, or slightly
evolved stars, which dominate collisions in globular clusters. The TEDI
mechanism should lead us to revise our understanding of collisions and the
formation of compact, eccentric binaries in the field.
