The complex dependencies of Wolf-Rayet winds -- Insights from detailed radiative transfer models

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Sander, Andreas A. C., Lefever, Roel R., González-Torà, Gemma
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866917376991166464
author Sander, Andreas A. C.
Lefever, Roel R.
González-Torà, Gemma
author_facet Sander, Andreas A. C.
Lefever, Roel R.
González-Torà, Gemma
contents With their emission-line dominated spectra, the appearance of Wolf-Rayet stars is shaped by their strong stellar winds. Yet, the physical mechanisms behind their high mass loss have long remained enigmatic. While we know nowadays that radiative driving is sufficient to explain WR-type outflows, a coherent description of them is still lacking, not least to the complex physical conditions invalidating some of the approximations sufficient for other hot-star winds. One promising instrument towards a better understanding of WR winds are comoving-frame, non-LTE stellar atmosphere models including a consistent solution of the hydrodynamics. While so far limited to 1D, their detailed treatment of the radiative transfer and the population numbers is key to overcome the traditional problem of connecting stellar structure models with observed spectra. By creating larger model sequences, we can identify previously unknown scalings and describe trends of WR wind quantities with fundamental stellar parameters and abundances. This article will present a summary of recent insights on WR-type winds, revealing a complex picture with various remaining challenges. Beside covering classical, hydrogen-free WR stars, we present new results to uncover dependencies of later-type WR stars and the presence of hydrogen-containing envelopes. We further discuss oncoming challenges and insights from 2D and 3D RHD simulations which need to be mapped into 1D dynamical atmosphere models.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_00650
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The complex dependencies of Wolf-Rayet winds -- Insights from detailed radiative transfer models
Sander, Andreas A. C.
Lefever, Roel R.
González-Torà, Gemma
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
With their emission-line dominated spectra, the appearance of Wolf-Rayet stars is shaped by their strong stellar winds. Yet, the physical mechanisms behind their high mass loss have long remained enigmatic. While we know nowadays that radiative driving is sufficient to explain WR-type outflows, a coherent description of them is still lacking, not least to the complex physical conditions invalidating some of the approximations sufficient for other hot-star winds. One promising instrument towards a better understanding of WR winds are comoving-frame, non-LTE stellar atmosphere models including a consistent solution of the hydrodynamics. While so far limited to 1D, their detailed treatment of the radiative transfer and the population numbers is key to overcome the traditional problem of connecting stellar structure models with observed spectra. By creating larger model sequences, we can identify previously unknown scalings and describe trends of WR wind quantities with fundamental stellar parameters and abundances. This article will present a summary of recent insights on WR-type winds, revealing a complex picture with various remaining challenges. Beside covering classical, hydrogen-free WR stars, we present new results to uncover dependencies of later-type WR stars and the presence of hydrogen-containing envelopes. We further discuss oncoming challenges and insights from 2D and 3D RHD simulations which need to be mapped into 1D dynamical atmosphere models.
title The complex dependencies of Wolf-Rayet winds -- Insights from detailed radiative transfer models
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.00650