Fakultät für Physik und Astronomie
STEPHEN PHILLIPS hostreviews.co.uk / UNSPLASH

First 3D radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of Wolf-Rayet winds and their effects on observations

Luka Poniatowski , Leuven

Classical Wolf Rayet (WR) stars are hydrogen-free, late evolutionary stages of massive stars. These stars are direct supernova progenitors and undergo intense mass loss. As such, understanding dense and fast outflows of WR stars is crucial for understanding advanced stages of stellar evolution, the dynamical feedback of massive stars on their environments and the characterisation of the distribution of black hole masses. Given the complex optically thick, non-LTE environment, current insights on on WR outflows are usually made with a spherical 1D calculations. However, we know from observations and theoretical simulations that the winds of WR stars are clumped and thus non-spherical effects likely playing an important role to understand them. In my previous and current work, we are developing the first time-dependent, multi- dimensional, radiation-hydrodynamical models of the extended, optically thick atmospheres and winds of the classical WR stars. To make this feasible, we employed a hybrid opacity model using a combination of tabulated Rosseland mean opacities and enhanced line opacities expected within a supersonic flow, resulting in highly structured, turbulent flows. Performing radiative transfer calculations on the resulting hydrodynamic structure, we characterise some of the first conclusions for the observations of WR stars following from these 3D models.

ARI Institute Colloquium
21 Jul 2022, 11:15
ARI, Moenchhofstrasse 12-14, Seminarraum 1, 1.OG

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