Related papers: Developing a self-consistent AGB wind model: I. Ch…
Asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are known to lose a significant amount of mass by a stellar wind, which controls the remainder of their stellar lifetime. High angular-resolution observations show that the winds of these cool stars…
The outflows of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are rich astrochemical laboratories, hosting different chemical regimes: from non-equilibrium chemistry close to the star, to dust formation further out, and finally photochemistry in the…
The properties and the evolution of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are strongly influenced by their mass loss through a stellar wind. This is believed to be caused by radiation pressure due to the absorption and scattering of the…
Cool luminous giants, in particular asymptotic giant branch stars, are among the most important sources of cosmic dust. Their extended dynamical atmospheres are places where grains form and initiate outflows driven by radiation pressure,…
The wind-driving mechanism of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars is commonly attributed to a two-step process: first, gas in the stellar atmosphere is levitated by shockwaves caused by stellar pulsation, then accelerated outwards by…
Stellar winds of cool and pulsating asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars enrich the interstellar medium with large amounts of processed elements and various types of dust. We present the first study on the influence of gas-to-dust drift on…
We are currently studying carbon based dust types of relevance for carbon-rich AGB stars, to obtain a better understanding of the influence of the optical and chemical properties of the grains on the mass loss of the star. An investigation…
The winds of cool luminous AGB stars are commonly assumed to be driven by radiative acceleration of dust grains which form in the extended atmospheres produced by pulsation-induced shock waves. The dust particles gain momentum by absorption…
It is generally acknowledged that the mass loss of Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars undergoes variations on different time scales. We constructed models for the dust envelopes for a sample of AGB stars to assess whether mass-loss…
Mass loss in oxygen-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars remains poorly understood, as the dust detected around them appears too transparent to drive winds through absorption alone. The current paradigm invokes outflows driven by photon…
I propose a mechanism for axisymmetrical mass loss on the asymptotic giant branch, that may account for the axially symmetric structure of elliptical planetary nebulae. The proposed model operates for slowly rotating AGB stars, having…
Mass loss is a fundamental, observationally well-established feature of AGB stars but many aspects of this process still remain to be understood. To date, self-consistent dynamical models of dust-driven winds reproducing the observed…
The mass loss properties of carbon AGB stars are not very well constrained at present. A variety of empirical or theoretical formulae with different parameterisations are available in the literature and the agreement between them is…
AGB stars are, together with supernovae, the main contributors of stellar dust to the interstellar medium (ISM). Dust grains formed by AGB stars are thought to be large. However, as dust nucleation and growth within their outflows are still…
Any model for the formation of elliptical planetary nebulae (PNs) should account for the positive correlation between the mass loss rate and the degree of departure from sphericity of the AGB progenitor's wind. I propose that this…
Low- and intermediate-mass stars eject much of their mass during the late, red giant branch (RGB) phase of evolution. The physics of their strong stellar winds is still poorly understood. In the standard model, stellar pulsations extend the…
The dust formation process in the winds of Asymptotic Giant Branch stars is discussed, based on full evolutionary models of stars with mass in the range $1$M$_{\odot} \leq$M$\leq 8$M$_{\odot}$, and metallicities $0.001 < Z <0.008$. Dust…
Low and intermediate mass stars lose a significant fraction of their mass through a dust-driven wind during the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) phase. Recent studies show that winds from late-type stars are far from being smooth. Mass-loss…
Interstellar dust forms during stellar mass-loss events, occurring either during a star's giant phase or during supernova explosions. This PhD thesis provides an in-depth investigation into the theory of dust condensation and growth,…
The O-rich Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars experience strong mass loss with efficient dust condensation and they are major sources of dust in the interstellar medium. Alumina dust (Al$_2$O$_3$) is an important dust component in O-rich…