On the Red Supergiant Wind Kink. A Universal mass-loss concept for massive stars

Abstract

Red supergiants (RSG) are key objects for the evolution of massive stars and their endpoints, but uncertainties in their underlying mass-loss mechanism have thus far prevented an appropriate framework for massive star evolution. We analyse an empirical mass loss"kink" feature uncovered by Yang et al., and we highlight its similarity to hot star radiation-driven wind models and observations at the optically thin/thick transition point. We motivate a new RSG mass-loss prescription that depends on the Eddington factor Gamma (including both a steep L dependence and an inverse steep M dependence). We subsequently implement this new RSG mass-loss prescription in the stellar evolution code MESA. We find that our physically motivated mass-loss behaviour naturally reproduces the Humphreys-Davidson limit without a need for any ad-hoc tweaks. It also resolves the RSG supernova "problem". We argue that a universal behaviour of radiation-driven winds across the HR diagram, independent of the exact source of opacity, is a key feature of the evolution of the most massive stars.

Accepted Letter in Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A). 4 pages. 3 figures

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• Inferring CSM Properties of Type II SNe Using a Magnitude-Limited ZTF Sample
• The Maximum Black Hole Mass at Solar Metallicity
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• Investigating the metallicity dependence of the mass-loss rate relation of red supergiants
• A comprehensive grid of massive binary evolution models for the Galaxy - Surface properties of post-mass transfer stars
• The Blue supergiant problem and the main-sequence width
• Red Supergiants -- The Other Side of the H-R Diagram
• Challenges in Forming Millisecond Pulsar-Black Holes from Isolated Binaries