arXiv subjects

Georges Meynet

Publications and source records attributed to Georges Meynet.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2013

Grids of stellar models with rotation - III. Models from 0.8 to 120 Msun at a metallicity Z = 0.002

(shortened) We provide a grid of single star models covering a mass range from 0.8 to 120 Msun with an initial metallicity Z = 0.002 with and without rotation. We discuss the impact of a change in the metallicity by comparing the current tracks with models computed with exactly the same physical ingredients but with a metallicity Z = 0.014 (solar). We show that the width of the main-sequence (MS) band in the upper part of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (HRD), for luminosity above log(L/Lsun) > 5.5, is very sensitive to rotational mixing. Strong mixing significantly reduces the MS width. We confirm, but here for the first time on the whole mass range, that surface enrichments are stronger at low metallicity provided that comparisons are made for equivalent initial mass, rotation and evolutionary stage. We show that the enhancement factor due to a lowering of the metallicity (all other factors kept constant) increases when the initial mass decreases. Present models predict an upper luminosity for the red supergiants (RSG) of log (L/Lsun) around 5.5 at Z = 0.002 in agreement with the observed upper limit of RSG in the Small Magellanic Cloud. We show that models using shear diffusion coefficient calibrated to reproduce the surface enrichments observed for MS B-type stars at Z = 0.014 can also reproduce the stronger enrichments observed at low metallicity. In the framework of the present models, we discuss the factors governing the timescale of the first crossing of the Hertzsprung gap after the MS phase. We show that any process favouring a deep localisation of the H-burning shell (steep gradient at the border of the H-burning convective core, low CNO content) and/or the low opacity of the H-rich envelope favour a blue position in the HRD for the whole or at least a significant fraction of the core He-burning phase.

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arXiv2013

Fundamental properties of core-collapse Supernova and GRB progenitors: predicting the look of massive stars before death

We investigate the fundamental properties of core-collapse Supernova (SN) progenitors from single stars at solar metallicity. We combine Geneva stellar evolutionary models with initial masses of Mini=20-120 Msun with atmospheric/wind models using CMFGEN. We provide synthetic photometry and high-resolution spectra of hot stars at the pre-SN stage. For Mini=9-20 Msun, we supplement our analysis using publicly available MARCS model atmospheres of RSGs. We employ observational criteria of spectroscopic classification and find that massive stars, depending on Mini and rotation, end their lives as red supergiants (RSG), yellow hypergiants (YHG), luminous blue variables (LBV), and Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars of the WN and WO spectral types. For rotating models, we obtain the following types of SN progenitors: WO1-3 (Mini <= 32 Msun), WN10-11 (25 < Mini < 32 Msun), LBV (20 <= Mini < 25 Msun), G1 Ia+ (18 < Mini < 20 Msun), and RSGs (9 <= Mini <= 18 Msun). For non-rotating models, we find spectral types WO1-3 (Mini>40 Msun), WN7-8 (25 < Mini <= 40 Msun), WN11h/LBV (20 < Mini <= 25 Msun), and RSGs (9 <= Mini <= 20 Msun). Our rotating models indicate that SN IIP progenitors are all RSG, SN IIL/b progenitors are 56% LBVs and 44% YHGs, SN Ib progenitors are 96% WN10-11 and 4% WOs, and SN Ic progenitors are all WO stars. We find that not necessarily the most massive and luminous SN progenitors are the brighter ones in a given filter. We show that SN IIP progenitors (RSGs) are bright in the RIJHK_S filters and faint in the UB filters. SN IIL/b progenitors (LBVs and YHGs), and SN Ib progenitors (WNs) are relatively bright in optical/IR filters, while SN Ic progenitors (WOs) are faint in all optical filters. We argue that SN Ib and Ic progenitors from single stars should be undetectable in the available pre-explosion images with the current magnitude limits, in agreement with observational results.[abridged]

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arXiv2013

Episodic modulations in supernova radio light curves from luminous blue variable supernova progenitor models

Ideally, one would like to know which type of core-collapse SNe is produced by different progenitors and the channels of stellar evolution leading to these progenitors. These links have to be very well known to use the observed frequency of different types of SN events for probing the star formation rate and massive star evolution in different types of galaxies. We investigate the link between LBV as SN progenitors and the appearance of episodic radio light curve modulations of the SN event. We use the 20Msun and 25Msun models with rotation at solar metallicity, part of an extended grid of stellar models computed by the Geneva team. At their pre-SN stage, these two models have recently been shown to have spectra similar to those of LBV stars and possibly explode as Type IIb SNe. Based on the wind properties before the explosion, we derive the density structure of their circumstellar medium. This structure is used as input for computing the SN radio light curve. We find that the 20Msun model shows radio light curves with episodic luminosity modulations, similar to those observed in some Type IIb SNe. This occurs because the evolution of the 20Msun model terminates in a region of the HR diagram where radiative stellar winds present strong density variations, caused by the bistability limit. The 25Msun model, ending its evolution in a zone of the HR diagram where no change of the mass-loss rates is expected, presents no such modulations in its radio SN light curve. Our results reinforce the link between SN progenitors and LBV stars. We also confirm the existence of a physical mechanism for a single star to have episodic radio light curve modulations. In the case of the 25Msun progenitors, we do not obtain modulations in the radio light curve, but our models may miss some outbursting behavior in the late stages of massive stars.

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arXiv2013

Strange mode instability for micro-variations in Luminous Blue Variables

If a massive star has lost significant mass during its red-supergiant stage, it would return to blue region in the HR diagram and spend a part of the core-He burning stage as a blue supergiant having a luminosity to mass ratio (L/M) considerably larger than about 10^4 (in solar units); the duration depends on the degree of internal mixing and on the metallicity. Then, various stellar pulsations are excited by enhanced κ-mechanism and strange mode instability. Assuming these pulsations to be responsible for (at least some of) the quasi-periodic light and radial-velocity variations in αCygni variables including luminous blue variables (LBVs; or S Dor variables), we can predict masses and surface compositions for these variables, and compare them with observed ones to constrain the evolutionary models. We discuss radial pulsations excited in evolutionary models of an initial mass of 40 M_\odot with solar metallicity of Z=0.014, and compare them to micro-variations in the two Galactic LBVs, HR Car and HD 160529. We have found that these stars should has lost more than half of the initial mass and their surface CNO abundances should be significantly modified from the original ones showing partial H-burning products.

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arXiv2013

Evolution of blue supergiants and αCygni variables; Puzzling CNO surface abundances

A massive star can enter the blue supergiant region either evolving directly from the main-sequence, or evolving from a previous red supergiant stage. The fractions of the blue supergiants having different histories depend on the internal mixing and mass-loss during the red supergiant stage. We study the possibility to use diagnostics based on stellar pulsation to discriminate blue supergiants having different evolution histories. For this purpose we have studied the pulsation property of massive star models calculated with the Geneva stellar evolution code for initial masses ranging from 8 to 50 M$_\odot$ with a solar metallicity of $Z=0.014$. We have found that radial pulsations are excited in the blue-supergiant region only in the models that had been red-supergiants before. This would provide us with a useful mean to diagnose the history of evolution of each blue-supergiant. At a given effective temperature, much more nonradial pulsations are excited in the model after the red-supergiant stage than in the model evolving towards the red-supergiant. The properties of radial and nonradial pulsations in blue supergiants are discussed. Predicted periods are compared with period ranges observed in some α-Cygni variables in the Galaxy and NGC 300. We have found that blue supergiant models after the red-supergiant stage roughly agree with observed period ranges in most cases. However, we are left with the puzzle that the predicted surface N/C and N/O ratios seem to be too high compared with those of Deneb and Rigel.

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arXiv2013

Evolution and fate of very massive stars

There is observational evidence that supports the existence of Very Massive Stars in the local universe. First, very massive stars (Mini<=320 M) have been observed in the Large Magellanic Cloud . Second, there are observed SNe that bear the characteristics of Pair Creation Supernovae which have very massive stars as progenitors. The most promising candidate to date is SN2007bi. In order to investigate the evolution and fate of nearby very massive stars, we calculated a new grid of models for such objects, for solar, LMC and SMC metallicities, which covers the initial mass range from 120 to 500M. Both rotating and non-rotating models were calculated using the Geneva stellar evolution code and evolved until at least the end of helium burning and for most models until oxygen burning. Since very massive stars have very large convective cores during the Main-Sequence phase, their evolution is not so much affected by rotational mixing, but more by mass loss through stellar winds. Their evolution is never far from a homogeneous evolution even without rotational mixing. All the VMS, at all the metallicities studied here, end their life as WC(WO) type stars. At solar metallicity, none of our models is expected to explode as a PCSN. At the metallicity of the LMC, only stars more massive than 300 M are expected to explode as PCSNe. At the SMC metallicity, the mass range for the PCSN progenitors is much larger and comprises stars with initial masses between about 100 and 290 M . All VMS stars in the metallicity range studied here produce either a type Ib or a type Ic SN. We estimate that the progenitor of SN2007bi, assuming a SMC metallicity, had an initial mass between 160 and 175 M . None of models presented in this grid produce GRBs or magnetars. They lose too much angular momentum by mass loss or avoid the formation of a BH by producing a completely disruptive PCSN.

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arXiv2013

The s-process in the Galactic halo: the fifth signature of spinstars in the early Universe?

Very old halo stars were previously found to show at least four different abundance 'anomalies', which models of fast rotating massive stars (spinstars) can successfully account for: rise of N/O and C/O, low 12C/13C and a primary-like evolution of Be and B. Here we show the impact of these same stars in the enrichment of Sr and Ba in the early Universe. We study if the s-process production of fast rotating massive stars can offer an explanation for the observed spread in [Sr/Ba] ratio in halo stars with metallicity [Fe/H]< -2.5. By means of a chemical inhomogeneous model we compute the enrichment of Sr and Ba by massive stars in the Galactic halo. Our model takes into account, for the first time, the contribution of spinstars. Our model (combining an r-process contribution with a s-process from fast rotating massive stars) is able to reproduce for the first time the observed scatter in the [Sr/Ba] ratio at [Fe/H]< -2.5. Toward higher metallicities, the stochasticity of the star formation fades away due to the increasing number of exploding and enriching stars, and as a consequence the predicted scatter decreases. Our scenario is again based on the existence of spinstars in the early Universe. Very old halo stars were previously found to show at least four other abundance 'anomalies', which rotating models of massive stars can successfully account for. Our results provide a 5th independent signature of the existence of fast rotating massive stars: an early enrichment of the Universe in s-process elements.

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arXiv2013

The thermohaline, Richardson, Rayleigh-Taylor, Solberg-Hoiland, and GSF criteria in rotating stars

Aims. We examine the interactions of various instabilities in rotating stars, which usually are considered as independent. Methods. An analytical study of the problem is performed, account is given to radiative losses, mu-gradients and horizontal turbulence. Results. The diffusion coefficient for an ensemble of instabilities is not given by the sum of the specific coefficients for each instability, but by the solution of a general equation. We find that thermohaline mixing is possible in low-mass red giants only if the horizontal turbulence is very weak. In rotating stars the Rayleigh-Taylor and the shear instabilities need simultaneous treating. This has for consequence that rotation laws of the form 1/r^(alpha) are predicted to be unstable for alpha > 1.6568, while the usual Rayleigh criterion predicts instability only for alpha > 2. Also, the shear instabilities are somehow reduced in Main Sequence stars by the effect of the Rayleigh-Taylor criterion. Various instability criteria should be expressed differently in rotating stars than in simplified geometries.

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arXiv2013

Populations of rotating stars. - I. Models from 1.7 to 15 Msun at Z = 0.014, 0.006, and 0.002 with Ω/Ωcrit between 0 and 1

B-type stars are known to rotate at various velocities, including very fast rotators near the critical velocity as the Be stars. In this paper, we provide stellar models covering the mass range between 1.7 to 15 Msun, which includes the typical mass of known Be stars, at Z = 0.014, 0.006, and 0.002 and for an extended range of initial velocities on the zero-age main sequence. We used the Geneva stellar-evolution code, including the effects of shellular rotation, with a numerical treatment that has been improved so the code can precisely track the variation in the angular momentum content of the star as it changes under the influence of radiative winds and/or mechanical mass loss. We discuss the impact of the initial rotation rate on the tracks in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, the main-sequence (MS) lifetimes, the evolution of the surface rotation and abundances, as well as on the ejected masses of various isotopes. Among the new results obtained from the present grid we find that 1) fast-rotating stars with initial masses around 1.7 Msun present at the beginning of the core hydrogen-burning phase quite small convective cores with respect to their slowly rotating counterparts. This fact may be interesting to keep in mind in the framework of the asteroseismic studies of such stars. 2) The contrast between the core and surface angular velocity is higher in slower rotating stars. The values presently obtained are in agreement with the very few values obtained for B-type stars from asteroseismology. 3) At Z = 0.002, the stars in the mass range of 1.7 to 3 Msun with a mean velocity on the MS of the order of 150 km/s show N/H enhancement superior to 0.2 dex at mid-MS, and superior to 0.4 dex at the end of the MS phase. At solar metallicity the corresponding values are below 0.2 dex at any time in the MS.

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arXiv2013

Red supergiants and stellar evolution

We review the significant role played by red supergiants (RSGs) in stellar populations, and some challenges and questions they raise for theoretical stellar evolution. We present how metallicity and rotation modify the way stars go to the red part of the Hertzsprung- Russell diagram or come back from it, and how RSGs might keep a trace of their main-sequence evolution. We compare theoretical popu- lation ratios with observed ones.

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arXiv2013

How the mass-loss rates of red-supergiants determine the fate of massive stars ?

Mass-loss rates are one of the most relevant parameters determining the evolution of massive stars. In particular, the rates at which the star loses mass during the red-supergiant (RSG) phase is the least constrained by the observations or theory. In this paper, we show how the mass loss during the RSG phase affects the later evolution of the star, as well as the final type of supernova towards which it leads. We also discuss some possibilities to discriminate between blue stars that went through a RSG phase and those which remained in the blue part of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram.

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arXiv2013

The past and future evolution of a star like Betelgeuse

We discuss the physics and the evolution of a typical massive star passing through an evolutionary stage similar to that of Betelgeuse. After a brief introduction recalling various observed parameters of Betelgeuse, we discuss the Pre-Main-Sequence phase (PMS), the Main-Sequence (MS) phase, the physics governing the duration of the first crossing of the HR diagram, the red supergiant stage (RSG), the post-red supergiant phases and the final fate of solar metallicity stars with masses between 9 and 25 M$_\odot$. We examine the impact of different initial rotation and of various prescriptions for the mass loss rates during the red supergiant phase. We show that, whatever the initial rotation rate (chosen between 0 and 0.7$\times\upsilon_{\rm crit}$, $\upsilon_{\rm crit}$ being the surface equatorial velocity producing a centrifugal acceleration balancing exactly the gravity) and the mass loss rates during the RSG stage (varied between a standard value and 25 times that value), a 15 M$_\odot$ star always ends its lifetime as a RSG and explodes as a type II-P or II-L supernova.

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arXiv2013

Superbubble dynamics in globular cluster infancy II. Consequences for secondary star formation in the context of self-enrichment via fast rotating massive stars

The self-enrichment scenario for globular clusters (GC) requires large amounts of residual gas after the initial formation of the first stellar generation. Recently, Krause et al. (2012) found that supernovae may not be able to expel that gas, as required to explain their present day gas-free state, and suggested that a sudden accretion on to the dark remnants, at a stage when type II supernovae have ceased, may plausibly lead to fast gas expulsion. Here, we explore the consequences of these results for the self-enrichment scenario via fast rotating massive stars (FRMS). We analyse the interaction of FRMS with the intra-cluster medium (ICM), in particular where, when and how the second generation of stars may form. From the results, we develop a timeline of the first approximately 40 Myr of GC evolution. The results of Paper I imply three phases during which the ICM is in a fundamentally different state, namely the wind bubble phase (lasting 3.5 to 8.8 Myr), the supernova phase (lasting 26.2 to 31.5 Myr), and the dark remnant accretion phase (lasting 0.1 to 4 Myr): (i) Quickly after the first generation massive stars have formed, stellar wind bubbles compress the ICM into thin filaments. No stars may form in the normal way during this phase, due to the high Lyman-Werner flux density. If the first generation massive stars have however equatorial ejections, as we proposed in the FRMS scenario, accretion may resume in the shadow of the equatorial ejecta. The second generation stars may then form due to gravitational instability in these discs that are fed by both the FRMS ejecta and pristine gas. [...]

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arXiv2013

Models of rotating massive stars: impacts of various prescriptions

The rotation of stars has many interesting and important consequences for the photometric and chemical evolution of galaxies. Many of the predictions of models of stellar rotation are now compared with observations of surface abundances and velocities, with interferometric studies of fast rotating stars, with internal rotation profiles as they can be deduced by asteroseismology, to cite just a few observational constraints. In this paper, we investigate how the outputs of models depend on the prescriptions used for the diffusion coefficients included in the shellular rotating models. After recalling the various prescriptions found in the literature, we discuss their impacts on the evolutionary tracks and lifetimes of the Main-Sequence (MS) phase, the changes of the surface composition and velocities during the MS phase, the distribution of the core helium lifetime in the blue and the red part of the HR diagram, the extensions of the blue loops, the evolution of the angular momentum of the core, and the synthesis of primary nitrogen in fast-rotating metal-poor massive stars. While some of these outputs depend only slightly on the prescriptions used (for instance, the evolution of the surface velocities), most of them show a significant dependence. The models which best fit the changes of the surface abundances are those computed with the vertical shear diffusion coefficient of Maeder (1997) and the horizontal shear diffusion coefficient by Zahn (1992).

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arXiv2013

Massive star evolution: Luminous Blue Variables as unexpected Supernova progenitors

Stars more massive than about 8 Msun end their lives as a Supernova (SN), an event of fundamental importance Universe-wide. Theoretically, these stars have been expected to be either at the red supergiant, blue supergiant, or Wolf-Rayet stage before the explosion. We performed coupled stellar evolution and atmospheric modeling of stars with initial masses between 20 Msun and 120 Msun. We found that the 20 Msun and 25 Msun rotating models, before exploding as SN, have spectra that do not resemble any of the aforementioned classes of massive stars. Rather, they have remarkable similarities with rare, unstable massive stars known as Luminous Blue Variables (LBV). While observations show that some SNe seem to have had LBVs as progenitors, no theoretical model had yet predicted that a star could explode at this stage. Our models provide theoretical support for relatively low-luminosity LBVs exploding as SN in the framework of single stellar evolution. This is a significant shift in paradigm, meaning that a fraction of LBVs could be the end stage of massive star evolution, rather than a transitory evolutionary phase. We suggest that type IIb SN could have LBV as progenitors, and a prime example could be SN 2008ax.

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arXiv2012

Superbubble dynamics in globular cluster infancy I. How do globular clusters first lose their cold gas?

The picture of the early evolution of globular clusters has been significantly revised in recent years. Current scenarios require at least two generations of stars of which the first generation (1G), and therefore also the protocluster cloud, has been much more massive than the currently predominating second generation (2G). Fast gas expulsion is thought to unbind the majority of the 1G stars. Gas expulsion is also mandatory to remove metal-enriched supernova ejecta, which are not found in the 2G stars. It has long been thought that the supernovae themselves are the agent of the gas expulsion, based on crude energetics arguments. Here, we assume that gas expulsion happens via the formation of a superbubble, and describe the kinematics by a thin-shell model. We find that supernova- driven shells are destroyed by the Rayleigh-Taylor instability before they reach escape speed for all but perhaps the least massive and most extended clusters. More power is required to expel the gas, which might plausibly be provided by a coherent onset of accretion onto the stellar remnants. The resulting kpc-sized bubbles might be observable in Faraday rotation maps with the planned Square Kilometre Array radio telescope against polarised background radio lobes if a globular cluster would happen to form in front of such a radio lobe.

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arXiv2012

Solar system genealogy revealed by extinct short-lived radionuclides in meteorites

Little is known about the stellar environment and the genealogy of our solar system. Short-lived radionuclides (SLRs, mean lifetime shorter than 100 Myr) that were present in the solar protoplanetary disk 4.56 Gyr ago could potentially provide insight into that key aspect of our history, were their origin understood. Previous models failed to provide a reasonable explanation of the abundance of two key SLRs, 26Al (mean lifetime = 1.1 Myr) and 60Fe (mean lifetime = 3.7 Myr), at the birth of the solar system by requiring unlikely astrophysical conditions. Our aim is to propose a coherent and generic solution based on the most recent understanding of star-forming mechanisms. Iron-60 in the nascent solar system is shown to have been produced by a diversity of supernovae belonging to a first generation of stars in a giant molecular cloud. Aluminum-26 is delivered into a dense collected shell by a single massive star wind belonging to a second star generation. The Sun formed in the collected shell as part of a third stellar generation. Aluminum-26 yields used in our calculation are based on new rotating stellar models in which 26Al is present in stellar winds during the star main sequence rather than during the Wolf-Rayet phase alone. Our scenario eventually constrains the time sequence of the formation of the two stellar generations that just preceded the solar system formation, along with the number of stars born in these two generations. (Continued).

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arXiv2012

Grids of stellar models with rotation II. WR populations and supernovae/GRB progenitors at Z = 0.014

We used a recent grid of stellar models computed with and without rotation to make predictions concerning the WR populations and the frequency of different types of core-collapse SNe. Current rotating models were checked to provide good fits to the following features: solar luminosity and radius at the solar age, main-sequence width, red-giant and red-supergiant (RSG) positions in the HRD, surface abundances, and rotational velocities. Rotating stellar models predict that about half of the observed WR stars and at least half of the type Ibc SNe may be produced through the single-star evolution channel. Rotation increases the duration of the WNL and WNC phases, while reducing those of the WNE and WC phases, as was already shown in previous works. Rotation increases the frequency of type Ic SNe. The upper mass limit for type II-P SNe is \sim 19.0 MSun for the non rotating models and \sim 16.8 MSun for the rotating ones. Both values agree with observations. Moreover, present rotating models provide a very good fit to the progenitor of SN 2008ax. We discuss future directions of research for further improving the agreement between the models and the observations. We conclude that the mass-loss rates in the WNL and RSG phases are probably underestimated at present. We show that up to an initial mass of 40 M\odot, a surface magnetic field inferior to about 200 G may be sufficient to produce some braking. Much lower values are needed at the red supergiant stage. We suggest that the presence/absence of any magnetic braking effect may play a key role in questions regarding rotation rates of young pulsars and the evolution leading to LGRBs.

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