Wolf-Rayet formation through L/M-dependent superwinds
Abstract
Mass-loss in red supergiants (RSGs) is poorly understood and stellar evolution models rely on empirical prescriptions. In recent years, new superwind mass-loss ideas, including an L/M dependence have been proposed, unlike traditional RSG wind recipes which are formulated on a L dependence alone. We investigate how contrasting RSG mass-loss prescriptions affect the late-time evolution of massive stars from their RSG phase onwards. We used MESA to create a series of stellar evolution models with masses ranging from 10 M⊙ − 40 M⊙, using the RSG \cite{VS23} L/M recipe and traditional mass-loss prescriptions. Independent of the treatment of the stellar envelope, we find for a 25M⊙ star that the L/M recipe reaches an order of magnitude higher mass-loss rate than traditional recipes due to its inverse mass dependence. As the RSG luminosity is set by the core mass and becomes largely insensitive to the current stellar mass, this creates a positive feedback loop driving runaway envelope stripping. Consequently, stars with an initial mass Minit ∼ 20 M⊙ are able to strip their hydrogen envelope and form classical Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars. We draw this conclusion not solely on the basis of their HRD location, but also on their predicted emission-line spectrum that we compute with the PoWR stellar atmosphere code. Stars with Minit<20 M⊙ do not fully strip, meaning they expand after core helium burning. In Appendix A we present a generic analytical model showing that the tendency for runaway stripping increases rapidly with the strength of the inverse mass-loss scaling with mass. Our models demonstrate a viable single-star pathway into the yellow supergiant and WR regimes. The amounts of full and partial stripping have a direct effect on supernova (SN) progenitors, including partially stripped type IIb SNe.
Related
- The formation and evolution of Wolf-Rayet stars with temperature-dependent winds
- Elusive helium stars in the gap between subdwarfs and Wolf-Rayet stars III. Formation of the Galactic population of stripped helium stars
- Resolving the heart of the Wolf-Rayet binary Apep with ALMA
- Wolf-Rayet stars and black holes: mass distributions and evolutionary connection
- Detection of new Galactic Wolf-Rayet stars with SPHEREx
BibTeX
@misc{mckeown2026wolfrayet,
title = {{Wolf-Rayet formation through L/M-dependent superwinds}},
author = {Aisling McKeown and Ciarán Furey and Gautham N. Sabhahit and Jorick S. Vink},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.01953},
eprint = {2610.01953},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.01953},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Wolf-Rayet formation through L/M-dependent superwinds
AU - Aisling McKeown
AU - Ciarán Furey
AU - Gautham N. Sabhahit
AU - Jorick S. Vink
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.01953
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.01953
AB - Mass-loss in red supergiants (RSGs) is poorly understood and stellar evolution models rely on empirical prescriptions. In recent years, new superwind mass-loss ideas, including an L/M dependence have been proposed, unlike traditional RSG wind recipes which are formulated on a L dependence alone. We investigate how contrasting RSG mass-loss prescriptions affect the late-time evolution of massive stars from their RSG phase onwards. We used MESA to create a series of stellar evolution models with masses ranging from 10 M_⊙ − 40 M_⊙, using the RSG \cite{VS23} L/M recipe and traditional mass-loss prescriptions. Independent of the treatment of the stellar envelope, we find for a 25M_⊙ star that the L/M recipe reaches an order of magnitude higher mass-loss rate than traditional recipes due to its inverse mass dependence. As the RSG luminosity is set by the core mass and becomes largely insensitive to the current stellar mass, this creates a positive feedback loop driving runaway envelope stripping. Consequently, stars with an initial mass M_init ∼ 20 M_⊙ are able to strip their hydrogen envelope and form classical Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars. We draw this conclusion not solely on the basis of their HRD location, but also on their predicted emission-line spectrum that we compute with the PoWR stellar atmosphere code. Stars with M_init<20 M_⊙ do not fully strip, meaning they expand after core helium burning. In Appendix A we present a generic analytical model showing that the tendency for runaway stripping increases rapidly with the strength of the inverse mass-loss scaling with mass. Our models demonstrate a viable single-star pathway into the yellow supergiant and WR regimes. The amounts of full and partial stripping have a direct effect on supernova (SN) progenitors, including partially stripped type IIb SNe.
ER -