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arXiv · 1811.03656

Common Envelope Evolution of Massive Stars

Paul M. Ricker·Frank X. Timmes·Ronald E. Taam·Ronald F. Webbink
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Abstract

The discovery via gravitational waves of binary black hole systems with total masses greater than $60M_\odot$ has raised interesting questions for stellar evolution theory. Among the most promising formation channels for these systems is one involving a common envelope binary containing a low metallicity, core helium burning star with mass $\sim 80-90M_\odot$ and a black hole with mass $\sim 30-40M_\odot$. For this channel to be viable, the common envelope binary must eject more than half the giant star's mass and reduce its orbital separation by as much as a factor of 80. We discuss issues faced in numerically simulating the common envelope evolution of such systems and present a 3D AMR simulation of the dynamical inspiral of a low-metallicity red supergiant with a massive black hole companion.

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Paul M. Ricker, Frank X. Timmes, Ronald E. Taam, Ronald F. Webbink. 2018-11-08. Common Envelope Evolution of Massive Stars. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1743921318007433

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