Physics of mass loss in massive stars

Abstract

We review potential mass-loss mechanisms in the various evolutionary stages of massive stars, from the well-known line-driven winds of O-stars and BA-supergiants to the less-understood winds from Red Supergiants. We discuss optically thick winds from Wolf-Rayet stars and Very Massive Stars, and the hypothesis of porosity-moderated, continuum-driven mass loss from stars formally exceeding the Eddington limit, which might explain the giant outbursts from Luminous Blue Variables. We finish this review with a glance on the impact of rapid rotation, magnetic fields and small-scale inhomogeneities in line-driven winds.

arXiv comment12 pages, invited review to appear in Proc. IAU307: New windows on massive stars: asteroseismology, interferometry, and spectropolarimetry, Editors: G. Meynet, C. Georgy, J.H. Groh & Ph. Stee

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Cited by in corpus (7)

• A Systematic Survey of the Effects of Wind Mass Loss Algorithms on the Evolution of Single Massive Stars
• X-ray emission from interacting massive binaries: a review of 15 years of progress
• The Geometry and Dynamical Role of Stellar Wind Bubbles in Photoionised HII Regions
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