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The line-deshadowing instability and its effect on wind clumping for OB-stars

Boek - Dissertatie

Across our Universe, the dynamics and chemical evolution of galaxies like the Milky Way are primarily controlled by the lives and deaths of stars with masses many times that of our Sun. But the evolution of these massive stars is, in turn, highly regulated by the huge amounts of mass expelled from their surfaces by means of powerful starlight-driven ("radiation-driven") stellar wind outflows. Such stellar wind mass loss critically determine how these massive stars evolve through their lives, how they finally die in giant supernova explosions, and how they leave behind exotic remnants such as neutron stars and black holes. This PhD project will develop a new generation of multi-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamic models of such massive-star wind outflows. A key aspect regards an accurate modeling of the strong instability inherent to such radiation-driving, which results in strong shocks and a highly structured - clumped - wind. Indeed, if not correctly accounted for, such Wind Clumping may lead to quite dramatic errors in inferred mass-loss properties for massive stars throughout the Cosmos, and to correspondingly large errors in massive-star evolution predictions. As such, this PhD project will not only contribute significantly to our basic understanding of the powerful radiation-driven wind outflows of massive stars, but also be of great value to the broad range of astrophysical applications relying on a firm understanding of these fascinating objects.
Jaar van publicatie:2022
Toegankelijkheid:Open