Jijuan Si | Searcharxiv

arXiv2025

The transport of angular momentum for massive stars I. Formation of slowly rotating WNE stars

The evolutionary scenario of early-type nitrogen-sequence Wolf-Rayet (WNE) stars predicts a slowly rotating subclass that typically forms after the red supergiant (RSG) phase. Their slow rotation rates are attributed to stellar winds that remove angular momentum transferred outward during core contraction. We incorporate improved prescriptions for internal gravity waves and the magnetic Tayler instability into single massive star evolution models. Our simulations successfully produce slowly rotating WNE stars and determine optimal parameters for both mechanisms ($A \ge 10$ for internal gravity waves (IGWs), $\alpha = 0.01$ for revised Tayler instability (TSF)). The results demonstrate that the efficiency of angular momentum transfer in massive stars is significantly enhanced compared to low-mass stars, both processes can self-consistently explain the slow rotation of WNE stars, confirming their efficiency in angular momentum redistribution and providing crucial theoretical support for the existence of this predicted stellar population.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2024

Formation of WNL stars for the MW and LMC based on the k-omega model

We adopt a set of second-order differential equations ($k-ω$ model) to handle core convective overshooting in massive stars, simulate the evolution of WNL stars with different metallicities and initial masses, both rotating and non-rotating models, and compare the results with the classical overshooting model. The results indicate that under the same initial conditions, the $k-ω$ model generally produces larger convective cores and wider overshooting regions, thereby increasing the mass ranges and extending the lifetimes of WNL stars, as well as the likelihood of forming WNL stars. The masses and lifetimes of WNL stars both increase with higher metallicities and initial masses. Under higher-metallicity conditions, the two overshooting schemes significantly differ in their impacts on lifetimes of the WNL stars, but insignificant in the mass ranges of the WNL stars. Rotation may drive the formation of WNL stars in low-mass, metal-poor counterparts, with this effect being more pronounced in the OV model. The surface nitrogen of metal-rich WNL stars formed during the MS phase is likely primarily from the CN-cycle, while it may come from both the CN- and NO-cycles for relatively metal-poor counterparts. Our model can effectively explain the distribution of WNL stars in the Milky Way, but appears to have inadequacies in explaining the WNL stars in the LMC.

astro-ph.SR↗