Related papers: Stability and evolution of super-massive stars (SM…
Supermassive primordial stars with masses exceeding $\sim10^5\,M_{\odot}$ that form in atomically cooled halos are the leading candidates for the origin of high-redshift quasars with $z>6$. Recent numerical simulations, however, find that…
Dense star clusters are spectacular self-gravitating stellar systems in our Galaxy and across the Universe - in many respects. They populate disks and spheroids of galaxies as well as almost every galactic center. In massive elliptical…
We review the final stages of stellar evolution, supernova properties, and chemical yields as a function of the progenitor's mass M. (1) 8 - 10 Ms stars are super-AGB stars when the O+Ne+Mg core collapses due to electron capture. These…
We discuss the question of how the number of dimensions of space and time can influence the equilibrium configurations of stars. We find that dimensionality does increase the effect of mass but not the contribution of the pressure, which is…
The core of a massive star (M > 8 Msun) eventually collapses. This implosion usually triggers a supernova (SN) explosion that ejects most of the stellar envelope and leaves behind a neutron star (NS) with a mass of up to about 2 Msun.…
Recent observations have detected top-heavy IMFs in dense star forming regions like the Arches cluster. Whether such IMFs also exist in old dense stellar systems like globular clusters is difficult to constrain, because massive stars…
We investigate the evolution of collisionally merged stars with mass of ~100 MSun which might be formed in dense star clusters. We assumed that massive stars with several tens Msun collide typically after ~1Myr of the formation of the…
The modelling of massive star evolution is a complex task, and is very sensitive to the way physical processes (such as convection, rotation, mass loss, etc.) are included in stellar evolution code. Moreover, the very high observed fraction…
Super-Eddington luminosities in hydrostatic model atmospheres manifest themselves by the presence of gas pressure inversions. Such inversions are not an artifact of the assumption of hydrostatic equilibrium but can also be present in…
Very massive stars are radiation pressure dominated. Before running out of viable nuclear fuel, they can reach a thermodynamic state where electron-positron pair-production robs them of radiation support, triggering their collapse.…
First results of numerical simulations are presented which compute the dynamical evolution of a neutron star with a mass slightly below the minimum stable mass by means of a new implicit (general relativistic) hydrodynamic code. We show…
We study the dynamical evolution of a phase-transition-induced collapse neutron star to a hybrid star, which consists of a mixture of hadronic matter and strange quark matter. The collapse is triggered by a sudden change of equation of…
The discovery of quasars at increasingly large cosmological redshifts may favor "direct collapse" as the most promising evolutionary route to the formation of supermassive black holes. In this scenario, supermassive black holes form when…
Neutron stars (NSs) are incredibly versatile for studying various important aspects of high-energy and compact-object physics. These celestial objects contain extreme matter at incredibly high densities in their interiors, leading to the…
Although playing a key role in the understanding of the supernova phenomenon, the evolution of massive stars still suffers from uncertainties in their structure, even during their "quiet" main sequence phase and later on during their…
We calculated a grid of evolutionary tracks of rotating models with masses between 1.0 and 3.0 $M_{\odot}$ and a resolution $\delta M \leq 0.02$ $M_{\odot}$, which can be used to study the effects of rotation on stellar evolutions and on…
Supermassive stars (SMSs) with masses of $M_\ast \simeq 10^4$--$10^5~{\rm M_\odot}$ are invoked as possible seeds of high-redshift supermassive black holes, but it remains under debate whether their protostar indeed acquires sufficient mass…
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…
We study the evolution of heavy stars ($M\ge40{\rm M}_\odot$) undergoing pair-instability in the presence of annihilating dark matter. Focusing on the scenario where the dark matter is in capture-annihilation equilibrium, we model the…
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…