Related papers: Stellar Population and Metal Production in AGN Dis…
We propose a scenario in which massive stars form at the outer edges of an AGN accretion disc. We analyze the dynamics of a disc forming around a supermassive black hole, in which the angular momentum is transported by turbulence induced by…
Stars can either be formed in or captured by the accretion disks in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). These AGN stars are irradiated and subject to extreme levels of accretion, which can turn even low-mass stars into very massive ones ($M > 100…
The disks of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) are expected to be populated by numerous stars, either formed in the outer regions of the disk via gravitational instability, or captured from the nearby nuclear star cluster. Regardless of their…
Disks of gas accreting onto supermassive black holes may host numerous stellar-mass objects, formed within the disk or captured from a nuclear star cluster. We present a simplified model of stellar evolution applicable to these dense…
Keplerian accretion discs around massive black holes (MBHs) are gravitationally unstable beyond a few hundredths of parsec and should collapse to form stars. Indeed an accretion/star formation episode took place a few millions years ago in…
Disks of gas accreting onto supermassive black holes are thought to power active galactic nuclei (AGN). Stars may form in gravitationally unstable regions of these disks, or may be captured from nuclear star clusters. Because of the dense…
We develop a model for the outer gravitationally unstable regions of accretion disks around massive black holes, for primeval or solar abundances. First we study star formation and evolution in a purely gaseous marginally unstable disk, and…
We study the evolution in axisymmetry of accretion disks formed self-consistently through collapse of magnetized hypermassive neutron stars to black holes. Such stars can arise following the merger of binary neutron stars. They are…
We study the formation of accretion disks resulting from dynamical three dimensional binary coalescence calculations, where a neutron star is tidally disrupted before being swallowed by its black hole companion. By subsequently assuming…
We propose a scenario in which massive stars form in a self-gravitating gaseous disc around a supermassive black hole. We find that once the surface density of the disc exceeds a critical value, the disc fragments into dense clumps. The…
Accretion disks around active galactic nuclei are potentially unstable to star formation at large radii. We note that when the compact objects formed from some of these stars spiral into the central supermassive black hole, there is no…
Disks of gas accreting onto supermassive black holes, powering active galactic nuclei (AGN), can capture stars from nuclear star clusters or form stars in situ via gravitational instability. The density and thermal conditions of these disks…
Active Galactic Nuclei are powered by geometrically-thin accretion disks surrounding a central supermassive black hole. Here we explore the evolution of stars embedded in these extreme astrophysical environments (AGN stars). Because AGN…
Gravitational instability in the outskirts of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) disks lead to disk fragmentation and formation of super-massive (several 10^2Msun) stars with potentially long lifetimes. Alternatively, stars can be captured…
We study the collapse of rapidly rotating supermassive stars that may have formed in the early Universe. By self-consistently simulating the dynamics from the onset of collapse using three-dimensional general-relativistic hydrodynamics with…
Current stellar evolution models predict that during the core collapse of massive stars, a considerable amount of the stellar material will fall back onto the compact, collapsed remnants (neutron stars or black holes), usually in the form…
The assembly of supermassive black holes poses a challenge primarily because of observed quasars at high redshift, but additionally because of the current lack of observations of intermediate mass black holes. One plausible scenario for…
Massive-star binaries can undergo a phase where one of the two stars expands during its advanced evolutionary stage as a giant and envelops its companion, ejecting the hydrogen envelope and tightening its orbit. Such a common envelope phase…
Strong iron lines are a common feature of the optical spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and quasars from $z\sim 6-7$ to the local Universe, and [Fe/Mg] ratios do not show cosmic evolution. During active episodes, accretion disks…
Our current understanding of the physical processes of star formation is reviewed, with emphasis on processes occurring in molecular clouds like those observed nearby. The dense cores of these clouds are predicted to undergo gravitational…