Title：Life and death of the most massive stars in the Universe

Speaker：Prof. Paul Crowther (University of Sheffield)

Time：October 8, 2019(Tuesday) , 15:00PM

Venue：333 Lecture Hall, Physics Building

Abstract：I will introduce massive stars in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies. These are incredibly rare but have a huge effect on their host galaxies through their radiative, chemical and mechanical feedback, and ultimate fate as core-collapse supernovae. Hydrogen-rich supernovae arise from 8-20 solar mass single massive stars, leaving neutron star remnants, but the origin of hydrogen-deficient supernovae remains controversial, since the majority of stars initially more massive than 20 solar masses are thought to collapse to black holes. I will discuss the important role played by multiplicity, evidence for the existence of Very Massive Stars (>100 Msun) and the significance of compact remnant mergers from gravitational wave observatories LIGO/VIRGO.