paper

Evidence for quasi-chemically homogeneous evolution of massive stars up to solar metallicity

arXiv:1304.3337 · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201321282

Abstract

Long soft gamma ray bursts (LGRBs) are usually associated with the death of the most massive stars. A large amount of core angular momentum in the phases preceding the explosion is required to form LGRBs. A very high initial rotational velocity can provide this angular momentum. Such a velocity strongly influences the way the star evolves: it is chemically homogeneously mixed and evolves directly towards the blue part of the HR diagram from the main sequence. We have shown that chemically homogeneous evolution (CHE) takes place in the SMC, at low metallicity. We want to see if there is a metallicity threshold above which such an evolution does not exist. We perform a spectroscopic analysis of H-rich early-type WN stars in the LMC and the Galaxy. We use the code CMFGEN to determine the fundamental properties and the surface composition of the target stars. We then place the stars in the HR diagram and determine their evolution. We show that both the LMC and Galactic WNh stars we selected cannot be explained by standard stellar evolution. They are located on the left of the main sequence but show surface abundances typical of CN equilibrium. In addition, they still contain a large amount of hydrogen. They are thus core-H burning objects. Their properties are consistent with CHE. We determine the metallicity of the Galactic stars from their position and Galactic metallicity gradients, and conclude that they have 0.6<Z<1.0. A moderate coupling between the core and the envelope is required to explain that stellar winds do not extract to much angular momentum to prevent a blueward evolution. In view of the findings that some long gamma ray bursts appear in solar environments, CHE may be a viable way to form them over a wide range of metallicities.

10 pages, 10 figures. Accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysics

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