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Register a new userHelium Ignition in the Cores of Low-Mass Stars
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Authors
Alfred Gautschy
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In stars with $M_ast lesssim 2 M_odot$, nuclear burning of helium starts under degenerate conditions and, depending on the efficiency of neutrino cooling, more or less off-center. The behavior of the centers of low-mass stars undergoing core helium ignition on the $logrho - log T$ plane is not thoroughly explained in the textbooks on stellar evolution and the appropriate discussions remain scattered throughout the primary research literature. Therefore, in the following exposition we collect the available knowledge, we make use of computational data obtained with the open-source star-modeling package MESA, and we compare them with the results in the existing literature. The line of presentation follows essentially that of Thomas (1967) who was the first who outlined correctly the stellar behavior during the off-center helium flashes that lead to central helium burning. The exposition does not contain novel research results; it is intended to be a pedagogically oriented, edifying compilation of pertinent physical aspects which help to emph{understand} the nature of the stars.
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Observations of pre-/proto-stellar cores in young star-forming regions show them to be mass segregated, i.e. the most massive cores are centrally concentrated, whereas pre-main sequence stars in the same star-forming regions (and older regions) are not. We test whether this apparent contradiction can be explained by the massive cores fragmenting into stars of much lower mass, thereby washing out any signature of mass segregation in pre-main sequence stars. Whilst our fragmentation model can reproduce the stellar initial mass function, we find that the resultant distribution of pre-main sequence stars is mass segregated to an even higher degree than that of the cores, because massive cores still produce massive stars if the number of fragments is reasonably low (between one and five). We therefore suggest that the reason cores are observed to be mass segregated and stars are not is likely due to dynamical evolution of the stars, which can move significant distances in star-forming regions after their formation.
The evolution of helium stars with initial masses in the range 1.6 to 120 Msun is studied, including the effects of mass loss by winds. These stars are assumed to form in binary systems when their expanding hydrogenic envelopes are promptly lost just after helium ignition. Significant differences are found with single star evolution, chiefly because the helium core loses mass during helium burning rather than gaining it from hydrogen shell burning. Consequently presupernova stars for a given initial mass function have considerably smaller mass when they die and will be easier to explode. Even accounting for this difference, the helium stars with mass loss develop more centrally condensed cores that should explode more easily than their single-star counterparts. The production of low mass black holes may be diminished. Helium stars with initial masses below 3.2 Msun experience significant radius expansion after helium depletion, reaching blue supergiant proportions. This could trigger additional mass exchange or affect the light curve of the supernova. The most common black hole masses produced in binaries is estimated to be about 9 Msun. A new maximum mass for black holes derived from pulsational pair-instability supernovae is derived - 46 Msun, and a new potential gap at 10 - 12 Msun is noted. Models pertinent to SN 2014ft are presented and a library of presupernova models is generated.
Stars form as an end product of the gravitational collapse of cold, dense gas in magnetized molecular clouds. This multi-scale scenario occurs via the formation of two quasi-hydrostatic cores and involves complex physical processes, which require a robust, self-consistent numerical treatment. The aim of this study is to understand the formation and evolution of the second Larson core and the dependence of its properties on the initial cloud core mass. We used the PLUTO code to perform high resolution, 1D and 2D RHD collapse simulations. We include self-gravity and use a grey FLD approximation for the radiative transfer. Additionally, we use for the gas EOS density- and temperature-dependent thermodynamic quantities to account for the effects such as dissociation, ionisation, and molecular vibrations and rotations. Properties of the second core are investigated using 1D studies spanning a wide range of initial cloud core masses from 0.5 to 100 $M_{odot}$. Furthermore, we expand to 2D collapse simulations for a few cases of 1, 5, 10, and 20 $M_{odot}$. We follow the evolution of the second core for $geq$ 100 years after its formation, for each of these non-rotating cases. Our results indicate a dependence of several second core properties on the initial cloud core mass. For the first time, due to an unprecedented resolution, our 2D non-rotating collapse studies indicate that convection is generated in the outer layers of the second core, which is formed due to the gravitational collapse of a 1 $M_{odot}$ cloud core. Additionally, we find large-scale oscillations of the second accretion shock front triggered by the standing accretion shock instability, which has not been seen before in early evolutionary stages of stars. We predict that the physics within the second core would not be significantly influenced by the effects of magnetic fields or an initial cloud rotation.
We investigate the relation of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) and the dense core mass function (CMF), using stellar masses and positions in 14 well-studied young groups. Initial column density maps are computed by replacing each star with a model initial core having the same star formation efficiency (SFE). For each group the SFE, core model, and observational resolution are varied to produce a realistic range of initial maps. A clumpfinding algorithm parses each initial map into derived cores, derived core masses, and a derived CMF. The main result is that projected blending of initial cores causes derived cores to be too few and too massive. The number of derived cores is fewer than the number of initial cores by a mean factor 1.4 in sparse groups and 5 in crowded groups. The mass at the peak of the derived CMF exceeds the mass at the peak of the initial CMF by a mean factor 1.0 in sparse groups and 12.1 in crowded groups. These results imply that in crowded young groups and clusters, the mass distribution of observed cores may not reliably predict the mass distribution of protostars which will form in those cores.
Determining the metal content of low-mass members of young associations provides a tool that addresses different issues, such as triggered star formation or the link between the metal-rich nature of planet-host stars and the early phases of planet formation. The Orion complex is a well known example of possible triggered star formation and is known to host a rich variety of proto-planetary disks around its low-mass stars. Available metallicity measurements yield discrepant results. We analyzed FLAMES/UVES and Giraffe spectra of low-mass members of three groups/clusters belonging to the Orion association. Our goal is the homogeneous determination of the metallicity of the sample stars, which allows us to look for [Fe/H] differences between the three regions and for the possible presence of metal-rich stars. Nine members of the ONC and one star each in the $lambda$ Ori cluster and OB1b subgroup were analyzed. After the veiling determination, we retrieved the metallicity by means of equivalent widths and/or spectral synthesis using MOOG. We obtain an average metallicity for the ONC [Fe/H]=-0.01pm 0.04. No metal-rich stars were detected and the dispersion within our sample is consistent with measurement uncertainties. The metallicity of the $lambda$ Ori member is also solar, while the OB1b star has an [Fe/H] significantly below the ONC average. If confirmed by additional [Fe/H] determinations in the OB1b subgroup, this result would support the triggered star formation and the self-enrichment scenario for the Orion complex.
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