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Center for Nonlinear Studies |
The majority of massive stars are believed to be in close binaries where mass transfer between the binary components occurs. This can change the immediate presupernova envelope structure of stars in various ways and is almost certainly responsible for a large part of the observed diversity of supernova types and subtypes. However, binary interactions can also change the presupernova structure of the core and hence the final fate of iron core collapse or electron-capture supernova or forms a black hole (either prompt or by fallback). Here, we show the results of a systematic exploration of the fate of massive stars that have either been stripped by mass transfer, accreted from a companion or merged with a companion (all treated in a simplified phenomenologial manner) and compare this to single-star evolution. Using a phenomenological model for the supernova explosions (guided by realistic 3d simulations), we present the properties of the resulting supernovae and compact remnants (including remnant type, their mass and velocity kick). This has dramatic implications for binary population synthesis studies and hence the rates of potential merging binaries gravitational-wave detectors (such as aLIGO) can detect. E.g. stripped stars with initial masses up to 70 Msun can produce successful supernovae and neutron-star remnants, and massive mergers may explode in an LBV phase.
Host: Chris Fryer