Physics of mass loss in massive stars
Abstract
We review potential mass-loss mechanisms in the various evolutionary stages of massive stars, from the well-known line-driven winds of O-stars and BA-supergiants to the less-understood winds from Red Supergiants. We discuss optically thick winds from Wolf-Rayet stars and Very Massive Stars, and the hypothesis of porosity-moderated, continuum-driven mass loss from stars formally exceeding the Eddington limit, which might explain the giant outbursts from Luminous Blue Variables. We finish this review with a glance on the impact of rapid rotation, magnetic fields and small-scale inhomogeneities in line-driven winds.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1409.3582,
title = {Physics of mass loss in massive stars},
author = {J. Puls and J. O. Sundqvist and N. Markova},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1409.3582},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
12 pages, invited review to appear in Proc. IAU307: New windows on massive stars: asteroseismology, interferometry, and spectropolarimetry, Editors: G. Meynet, C. Georgy, J.H. Groh & Ph. Stee