Around the Pair Instability Valley - Massive SN Progenitors

TL;DR

This paper investigates the evolution of very massive stars near the pair instability threshold, focusing on their potential to end as pair instability supernovae or massive core collapse supernovae.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the evolution pathways of massive stars around the pair instability regime and their supernova outcomes.

Findings

Massive stars can end as pair instability supernovae or core collapse supernovae.

Stars near the pair instability threshold develop iron cores up to about 3 solar masses.

The study clarifies the evolutionary processes leading to different supernova types.

Abstract

The discovery of the extremely luminous supernova SN 2006gy, possibly interpreted as a pair instability supernova, renewed the interest in very massive stars. We explore the evolution of these objects, which end their life as pair instability supernovae or as core collapse supernovae with relatively massive iron cores, up to about $3 M_\odot$.