Mass loss predictions for hot stars

TL;DR

This paper presents radiation-driven mass-loss predictions for hot stars across all masses, emphasizing its importance in stellar evolution, supernova progenitors, and cosmic chemical enrichment.

Contribution

It provides comprehensive mass-loss predictions for hot stars, addressing their role in stellar evolution, supernova progenitors, and chemical enrichment, with implications for various stellar phenomena.

Findings

Mass loss rates vary significantly across hot star types.

Luminous blue variables may be direct supernova progenitors.

Mass loss influences the rotational properties of horizontal branch stars.

Abstract

I present the results of radiation-driven mass-loss predictions for hot stars of all mass. Mass loss is an important aspect for the evolution of massive stars, the rotational properties of the progenitors of gamma-ray bursts, and is essential in assessing whether the most massive stars explode as pair-instability supernovae, or avoid them due to mass loss. As a result, the rate of mass loss is critical for our understanding of the chemical enrichment of the Universe. Of particular interest is the question whether luminous blue variables are the direct progenitors of some supernovae. Although there is a growing body of evidence to suggest this, it remains as yet unexplained by state-of-the-art stellar evolution models. Finally, I discuss the relevance of mass loss for the appearance and rotational properties of hot Horizontal Branch stars in globular clusters and subdwarf B stars in the field.