Bibcode
Voss, R.; Diehl, R.; Hartmann, D. H.; Cerviño, M.; Vink, J. S.; Meynet, G.; Limongi, M.; Chieffi, A.
Bibliographical reference
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 504, Issue 2, 2009, pp.531-542
Advertised on:
9
2009
Journal
Citations
73
Refereed citations
53
Description
Aims: We study the massive stars in OB associations and their
surrounding interstellar medium environment, using a population
synthesis code. Methods: We developed a new population synthesis
code for groups of massive stars, where we model the emission of
different forms of energy and matter from the stars of the association.
In particular, the ejection of the two radioactive isotopes
26Al and 60Fe is followed, as well as the emission
of hydrogen ionizing photons, and the kinetic energy of the stellar
winds and supernova explosions. We investigate various alternative
astrophysical inputs and the resulting output sensitivities, especially
effects due to the inclusion of rotation in stellar models. As the aim
of the code is the application to relatively small populations of
massive stars, special care is taken to address their statistical
properties. Our code incorporates both analytical statistical methods
applicable to small populations, as well as extensive Monte Carlo
simulations. Results: We find that the inclusion of rotation in
the stellar models has a large impact on the interactions between OB
associations and their surrounding interstellar medium. The emission of
26Al in the stellar winds is strongly enhanced, compared to
non-rotating models with the same mass-loss prescription. This
compensates the recent reductions in the estimates of mass-loss rates of
massive stars due to the effects of clumping. Despite the lower
mass-loss rates, the power of the winds is actually enhanced for
rotating stellar models. The supernova power (kinetic energy of their
ejecta) is decreased due to longer lifetimes of rotating stars, and
therefore the wind power dominates over supernova power for the first 6
Myr after a burst of star-formation. For populations typical of nearby
star-forming regions, the statistical uncertainties are large and
clearly non-Gaussian.