Related papers: From stars to nuclei
The formation of stars is a key process in astrophysics. Detailed knowledge of the physical mechanisms that govern stellar birth is a prerequisite for understanding the formation and evolution of our galactic home, the Milky Way. A theory…
The synthesis of nuclei in diverse cosmic scenarios is reviewed, with a summary of the basic concepts involved before a discussion of the current status in each case is made. We review the physics of the early universe, the proton to…
Ever since the discovery of neutron stars it has been realized that they serve as probes of a physical regime that cannot be accessed in laboratories: strongly degenerate matter at several times nuclear saturation density. Existing nuclear…
Neutron stars are associated with diverse physical phenomena that take place in conditions characterized by ultrahigh densities as well as intense gravitational, magnetic, and radiation fields. Understanding the properties and interactions…
We investigate the radial stability of neutron stars under conditions where their composition may or may not remain in chemical equilibrium during oscillations. Using different equations of state that include nucleons, hyperons, and/or…
Aims: Following our comprehensive studies of the WR stars in the Milky Way, we now present spectroscopic analyses of almost all known WN stars in the LMC. Methods: For the quantitative analysis of the wind-dominated emission-line spectra,…
The evolution of massive stars is still partly unconstrained. Mass, metallicity, mass loss and rotation are the main drivers of stellar evolution. Binarity and magnetic field may also significantly affect the fate of massive stars. Our goal…
Thermal evolution of neutron stars is known to depend on the properties of superdense matter in neutron star cores. We suggest a statistical analysis of isolated cooling middle-aged neutron stars and old transiently accreting…
Stellar nucleosynthesis is an important nuclear physics phenomenon that is responsible for presently observed chemical elements and isotope abundances. It is also one of the corner stone hypotheses that provides basis for our understanding…
Nuclear physics has a long and productive history of application to astrophysics which continues today. Advances in the accuracy and breadth of astrophysical data and theory drive the need for better experimental and theoretical…
Massive stars, by which we mean those stars exploding as core collapse supernovae, play a pivotal role in the evolution of the Universe. Therefore, the understanding of their evolution and explosion is fundamental in many branches of…
Using the stellar evolution code---Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA), we investigate the evolution of massive stars with different rotational velocities and metallicities towards Wolf-Rayet stars. In our simulations,…
We review general characteristics of massive stars, present the main observable constraints that stellar models should reproduce. We discuss the impact of massive star nucleosynthesis on the early phases of the chemical evolution of the…
The formation of stars from gas drives the evolution of galaxies. Yet, it remains one of the hardest processes to understand when trying to connect observations of stellar and galaxy populations to models of large scale structure formation.…
The physics of stars, their workings and their evolution, is a goldmine of problems in statistical mechanics and thermodynamics. We discuss many examples that illustrate the possibility of deepening student's knowledge of statistical…
Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars, as they are advanced stages of the life of massive stars, provide a good test for various physical processes involved in the modelling of massive stars, such as rotation and mass loss. In this paper, we show the…
Wolf-Rayet stars (WRs) are evolved massive stars, and the relative number of WC-type and WN-type WRs should vary with metallicity, providing a sensitive test of stellar evolutionary theory. The observed WC/WN ratio is much higher than that…
The origin of the elements is a fascinating question that scientists have been trying to answer for the last seven decades. The formation of light elements in the primordial universe and heavier elements in astrophysical sources occurs…
Microscopic calculations of neutron matter based on nuclear interactions derived from chiral effective field theory, combined with the recent observation of a 1.97 +- 0.04 M_sun neutron star, constrain the equation of state of neutron-rich…
[WC]-type CSPNs are hydrogen-deficient Central Stars of Planetary Nebulae showing strong stellar winds and a carbon-rich chemistry. We have analyzed new high-resolution spectra of [WC]-type CSPNs with the Potsdam Wolf-Rayet (PoWR) non-LTE…