Related papers: Local Radiation-Driven Instabilities in Post-Main …
[Abridged] Star and planet formation are the complex outcomes of gravitational collapse and angular momentum transport mediated by protostellar and protoplanetary disks. In this review we focus on the role of gravitational instability in…
This review discusses the causes, nature, importance and observational evidence of mass loss by red supergiants. It arrives at the perception that mass loss finds its origin in the gravity which makes the star a star in the first place, and…
We show that the optically-thick dusty envelopes surrounding young high-mass stars are subject to the photon bubble instability. The infrared radiation passing through the envelope amplifies magnetosonic disturbances, with growth rates in…
Very massive stars (VMSs, $M_{\star}$ $\geq$ 100 M$_{\odot}$) play a crucial role in several astrophysical processes. At low metallicity, they might collapse directly into black holes, or end their lives as pair-instability supernovae.…
Massive stars can exhibit giant eruptions with high mass loss shortly before their explosion as a core-collapse Supernova. These multiple giant eruptions (MGEs) may have a commutative effect that brings the star to a different state,…
We investigate the instability of purely poloidal magnetic fields in nonrotating neutron stars by means of three-dimensional general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations, extending the work presented in Ciolfi et al. (2011). Our…
We discuss recent models on the evolution of massive stars at very low metallicity including the effects of rotation, magnetic fields and binarity. Very metal poor stars lose very little mass and angular momentum during the main sequence…
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…
The recent discovery of high-redshift (z > 6) supermassive black holes (SMBH) favors the formation of massive seed BHs in protogalaxies. One possible scenario is formation of massive stars ~ 1e3-1e4 Msun via runaway stellar collisions in a…
Gas processes affecting star formation are reviewed with an emphasis on gravitational and magnetic instabilities as a source of turbulence. Gravitational instabilities are pervasive in a multi-phase medium, even for sub-threshold column…
This paper introduces a new empirical model for the rotational evolution of Sun-like stars -- those with surface convection zones and non-convective interior regions. Previous models do not match the morphology of observed (rotation…
Self-consistent stellar models including all effects of atomic diffusion and radiative accelerations as well as mass loss are evolved from the pre main sequence for stars of 1.35-1.5, M$_{\odot}$ at solar metallicity (Z=0.02). A mass loss…
Most stars will experience episodes of substantial mass loss at some point in their lives. For very massive stars, mass loss dominates their evolution, although the mass loss rates are not known exactly, particularly once the star has left…
The early stages of a galaxy's evolution leave an imprint on its metallicity distribution. We discuss the origins and evolution of radial metallicity gradients in discs of spiral galaxies using an analytical chemical evolution model. We…
Evolutionary models of fast-rotating stars show that the stellar rotational velocity may approach the critical speed. Critically rotating stars cannot spin up more, therefore they lose their excess angular momentum through an equatorial…
In this paper, we discuss some consequences of rotation and mass loss on the evolved stages of massive star evolution. The physical reasons of the time evolution of the surface velocity are explained, and then we show how the late-time…
Grids of models for rotating stars are constructed in the range of 9 to 120 M$_{\odot}$ at solar metallicity. The following effects of rotation are included: shellular rotation, new structure equations for non-conservative case, surface…
Recent stellar evolution models show consistently that very massive metal-free stars evolve into red supergiants shortly before they explode. We argue that the envelopes of these stars, which will form pair-instability supernovae, become…
Massive stars have strong stellar winds that direct their evolution through the upper Hertzsprung-Russell diagram and determine the black hole mass function. Secondly, wind strength dictates the atmospheric structure that sets the ionising…
Stellar rotation produces an internal mixing of the elements due to shear instability and meridional circulation. This leads to observable $N/C$ enhancements in massive stars above about 7--9 $M_{\odot}$. Rotation also favours mass loss by…