Friday, November 14, 2025 at 12:15 pm

JILA Foothills room

Jing-Ze Ma, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics

"Rains & Quakes in 3D Massive Stars: First Light of the AREPO-Star Project "

Abstract:

As the evolved descendants of massive stars and the progenitors of supernovae and compact objects, red supergiant stars act as a bridge between massive star evolution, astrophysical transients, and gravitational wave sources. One famous example is Betelgeuse, which unexpectedly became dimmer in 2019 but re-brightened in 2020, highlighting our poor understanding of these giant stars. Using a new radiation transport module I developed in the moving-mesh code AREPO, I will explain how we can use AREPO - a code mostly used for cosmological simulations - to simulate realistic full-sphere 3D massive star envelope for the first time. I will highlight two scientific results: (1) multi-scale cooling-driven convection creating supergranulation reminiscent of solar convection, and (2) pulsation- lifted circumstellar material as an explanation for interacting supernovae. These results are only the starting point of the AREPO- Star project, aimed at simulating the multi-scale 3D physics of massive stars, binaries, and associated transients across the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram.

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