Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2001-12-04
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
7 pages, including 4 figures; in. proc. MPA/ESO/MPE/USM Joint Astronomy Conference "Lighthouses of the Universe: The Most Lumi
Scientific paper
10.1007/10856495_57
While the modern stellar IMF shows a rapid decline with increasing mass, theoretical investigations suggest that very massive stars (>100 solar masses) may have been abundant in the early universe. Other calculations also indicate that, lacking metals, these same stars reach their late evolutionary stages without appreciable mass loss. After central helium burning, they encounter the electron-positron pair instability, collapse, and burn oxygen and silicon explosively. If sufficient energy is released by the burning, these stars explode as brilliant supernovae with energies up to 100 times that of an ordinary core collapse supernova. They also eject up to 50 solar masses of radioactive Ni56. Stars less massive than 140 solar masses or more massive than 260 solar masses should collapse into black holes instead of exploding, thus bounding the pair-creation supernovae with regions of stellar mass that are nucleosynthetically sterile. Pair-instability supernovae might be detectable in the near infrared out to redshifts of 20 or more and their ashes should leave a distinctive nucleosynthetic pattern.
Abel Tom
Baraffe Isabelle
Heger Alexander
Woosley Stan E.
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