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Register a new userTheoretical wind clumping predictions of OB supergiants from line-driven instability simulations across the bi-stability jump
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Added by
Florian A. Driessen
Publication date
2019
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
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(Abridged) The behaviour of mass loss across bi-stability jump is a key uncertainty in models of massive stars. While an increase in mass loss is theoretically predicted, this has so far not been observationally confirmed. However, radiation-driven winds of massive stars are known to exhibit clumpy structures triggered by the line-deshadowing instability (LDI). Wind clumping affects empirical mass-loss rates inferred from density square-dependent spectral diagnostics. If clumping properties differ significantly for O and B supergiants across the bi-stability jump, this may help alleviate discrepancies between theory and observations. We investigate with analytical and numerical tools how the onset of clumpy structures behaves in the winds of O supergiants (OSG) and B supergiants (BSG) across the bi-stability jump. We derive a scaling relation for the linear growth rate of the LDI for a single optically thick line and apply it in both regimes. We run 1D time-dependent line-driven instability simulations to study the non-linear evolution of the LDI in clumpy OSG and BSG winds. Linear perturbation analysis for a single line shows that the LDI linear growth rate scales strongly with stellar effective temperature and terminal wind speed. This implies significantly lower growth rates for (cooler, slower) BSG winds than for OSG winds. This is confirmed by the non-linear simulations, which show significant differences in OSG and BSG wind structure formation, with the latter characterized by significantly weaker clumping factors and lower velocity dispersions. This suggests that lower correction factors due to clumping should be employed when deriving empirical mass-loss rates for BSGs on the cool side of the bi-stability jump. Moreover, the non-linear simulations provide a theoretical background toward explaining the general lack of observed intrinsic X-ray emission in (single) B star winds.
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The influence of the wind to the total continuum of OB supergiants is discussed. For wind velocity distributions with beta > 1.0, the wind can have strong influence to the total continuum emission, even at optical wavelengths. Comparing the continuum emission of clumped and unclumped winds, especially for stars with high beta values, delivers flux differences of up to 30% with maximum in the near-IR. Continuum observations at these wavelengths are therefore an ideal tool to discriminate between clumped and unclumped winds of OB supergiants.
We investigate the effects of stellar limb-darkening and photospheric perturbations for the onset of wind structure arising from the strong, intrinsic line-deshadowing instability (LDI) of a line-driven stellar wind. A linear perturbation analysis shows that including limb-darkening reduces the stabilizing effect of the diffuse radiation, leading to a net instability growth rate even at the wind base. Numerical radiation-hydrodynamics simulations of the non-linear evolution of this instability then show that, in comparison with previous models assuming a uniformly bright star without base perturbations, wind structure now develops much closer ($r la 1.1 R_star$) to the photosphere. This is in much better agreement with observations of O-type stars, which typically indicate the presence of strong clumping quite near the wind base.
Mass-loss rates and terminal wind velocities are key parameters that determine the kinetic wind energy and momenta of massive stars. Furthermore, accurate mass-loss rates determine the mass and rotational velocity evolution of mass stars, and their fates as neutron stars and black holes in function of metallicity (Z). Here we update our Monte Carlo mass-loss Recipe with new dynamically-consistent computations of the terminal wind velocity -- as a function of Z. These predictions are particularly timely as the HST ULLYSES project will observe ultraviolet spectra with blue-shifted P Cygni lines of hundreds of massive stars in the low-Z Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, as well as sub-SMC metallicity hosts. Around 35 000 K, we uncover a weak-wind dip and we present diagnostics to investigate its physics with ULLYSES and X-Shooter data. We discuss how the dip may provide important information on wind-driving physics, and how this is of key relevance towards finding a new gold-standard for OB star mass-loss rates. For B supergiants below the Fe IV to III bi-stability jump, the terminal velocity is found to be independent of Z and M, while the mass-loss rate still varies as $dot{M} propto Z^{0.85}$. For O-type stars above the bi-stability jump we find a terminal-velocity dependence of $v_{infty} propto Z^{0.19}$ and the Z-dependence of the mass-loss rate is found to be as shallow as $dot{M} propto Z^{0.42}$, implying that to reproduce the `heavy black holes from LIGO/VIRGO, the `low Z requirement becomes even more stringent than was previously anticipated.
We study the origin of the observed bi-stability jump in the terminal velocity of the winds of supergiants near spectral type B1. To this purpose, we have calculated a grid of wind models and mass-loss rates for these stars. The models show that the mass-loss rate jumps by a factor of five around spectral type B1. Up to now, a theoretical explanation of the observed bi-stability jump was not yet provided by radiation driven wind theory. The models demonstrate that the subsonic part of the wind is dominated by the line acceleration due to Fe. The elements C, N and O are important line drivers in the supersonic part of the wind. We demonstrate that the mass-loss rate jumps due to an increase in the line acceleration of Fe III below the sonic point. Finally, we discuss the possible role of the bi-stability jump on the mass loss during typical variations of Luminous Blue Variable stars.
We probe the radial clumping stratification of OB stars in the intermediate and outer wind regions (r>~2 R*) to derive upper limits for mass-loss rates, and compare to current mass-loss implementation. Together with archival multi-wavelength data, our new far-infrared continuum observations for a sample of 25 OB stars (including 13 B Supergiants) uniquely constrain the clumping properties of the intermediate wind region. We derive the minimum radial stratification of the clumping factor through the stellar wind, fclmin(r), and the corresponding maximum mass-loss rate, Mdotmax, normalising clumping factors to the outermost wind region (clfar=1). The clumping degree for r>~2 R* decreases or stays constant with increasing radius for almost the whole sample. There is a dependence on luminosity class and spectral type at the intermediate region relative to the outer ones: O Supergiants (OSGs) present a factor 2 larger clumping factors than B Supergiants (BSGs). The maximum clumping of roughly 1/3 of the OB Supergiants occurs close to the wind base (r<~2 R*) and then decreases monotonically. This contrasts with the more frequent case where the lowermost clumping increases towards a maximum, and needs to be addressed by theoretical models. Additionally, the estimated Mdotmax for BSGs is at least one order of magnitude lower than theoretical values, whereas for OSGs our results and predictions agree within errors. Assuming values of clfar=4-9 from hydrodynamical models would imply a reduction of mass-loss rates included in stellar evolution models by a factor 2-3 for OSGs and by factors 6-200 for BSGs below the first bi-stability jump. This implies large reductions of mass-loss rates applied in evolution-models for BSGs, independently of the actual clumping properties of these winds, and a thorough re-investigation of BSG mass-loss rates and their effects on stellar evolution.
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