Collaborative Research: New Models Of Stellar Evolution To Understand The Past, Present & Future Of Magnetic Massive Stars

首席研究员 (PI) 佩蒂特、奥克萨拉和麦克唐纳将生成计算机模型来研究大质量恒星磁场的形成和演化。 PI 希望解决的一个谜团是强磁场是否会改变核心塌陷超新星的最终结果。 PI 是特拉华州教师协会 (DTI) 的成员，他们将与 K-12 教师合作制作一套天文学课程单元。由于恒星缺乏可以驱动发电机的对流包层，人们对大质量恒星产生和维持磁场的机制知之甚少。该团队将通过将磁场演化实现为恒星演化代码来生成模型。他们将研究化石场、恒星风、对流和旋转的相互作用如何影响终点，即中子星、黑洞和引力波前身的形成。该团队还将根据已知磁性 OB 星的当前特性构建经验性初始 B 场函数 (IBF)，为试图解释大质量恒星磁性起源的模型提供基础。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Principal Investigators (PIs) Petit, Oksala, and MacDonald will generate computer models to study the formation and evolution of magnetic fields in massive stars. One mystery the PIs hope to solve is whether a strong magnetic field changes the ultimate outcome of a core-collapse supernova. The PIs are members of the Delaware Teachers Institute (DTI) and they will collaborate with K-12 teachers to produce a set of astronomy curriculum units. The mechanism that generates and maintains a magnetic field in massive stars is poorly understood as the stars lack a convective envelope which could drive a dynamo. The team will generate models by implementing the evolution of the magnetic field into stellar evolution codes. They will study how the interplay of fossil fields, stellar winds, convection, and rotation affects the end point, i.e., the formation of neutron stars, black holes, and gravitational wave progenitors. The team will also construct an empirical Initial B-field Function (IBF) based on the current-day properties of known magnetic OB stars to provide a basis for models attempting to explain the origin of magnetism in massive stars.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.