Is Betelgeuse the Outcome of a Past Merger?

We explore the possibility that the star alpha Orionis (Betelgeuse) is the outcome of a merger that occurred in a low mass ratio (q = M2/M1 = 0.07 - 0.25) binary system some time in the past hundreds of thousands of years. To that goal, we present a simple analytical model to approximate the perturbed internal structure of a post-merger object following the coalescence of a secondary in the mass range 1-4 Msun into the envelope of a 15-17 Msun primary. We then compute the long-term evolution of post-merger objects for a grid of initial conditions and make predictions about their surface properties for evolutionary stages that are consistent with the observed location of Betelgeuse in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. We find that if a merger occurred after the end of the primary's main-sequence phase, while it was expanding toward becoming a red supergiant star and typically with radius ~200 - 300 Rsun, then it's envelope is spun-up to values which remain in a range consistent with the Betelgeuse observations for thousands of years of evolution. We argue that the best scenario that can explain both the fast rotation of Betelgeuse and its observed large space velocity is one where a binary was dynamically ejected by its parent cluster a few million years ago and then subsequently merged. An alternative scenario in which the progenitor of Betelgeuse was spun up by accretion in a binary and released by the supernova explosion of the companion requires a finely tuned set of conditions but cannot be ruled out.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Evolving R Coronae Borealis Stars with MESA

The R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars are rare hydrogen--deficient, carbon--rich supergiants. They undergo extreme, irregular declines in brightness of many magnitudes due to the formation of thick clouds of carbon dust. It is thought that RCB stars result from the mergers of CO/He white dwarf (WD) binaries. We constructed post--merger spherically asymmetric models computed with the MESA code, and then followed the evolution into the region of the HR diagram where the RCB stars are located. We also investigated nucleosynthesis in the dynamically accreting material of CO/He WD mergers which may provide a suitable environment for significant production of 18O and the very low 16O/18O values observed. We have also discovered that the N abundance depends sensitively on the peak temperature in the He--burning shell. Our MESA modeling consists of engineering the star by adding He--WD material to an initial CO--WD model, and then following the post--merger evolution using a nuclear--reaction network to match the observed RCB abundances as it expands and cools to become an RCB star. These new models are more physical because they include rotation, mixing, mass-loss, and nucleosynthesis within MESA. We follow the later evolution beyond the RCB phase to determine the stars' likely lifetimes. The relative numbers of known RCB and Extreme Helium (EHe) stars correspond well to the lifetimes predicted from the MESA models. In addition, most of computed abundances agree very well with the observed range of abundances for the RCB class.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, MNRAS in pres

What is the Shell Around R Coronae Borealis?

The hydrogen-deficient, carbon-rich R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars are known for being prolific producers of dust which causes their large iconic declines in brightness. Several RCB stars, including R CrB, itself, have large extended dust shells seen in the far-infrared. The origin of these shells is uncertain but they may give us clues to the evolution of the RCB stars. The shells could form in three possible ways. 1) they are fossil Planetary Nebula (PN) shells, which would exist if RCB stars are the result of a final, helium-shell flash, 2) they are material left over from a white-dwarf merger event which formed the RCB stars, or 3) they are material lost from the star during the RCB phase. Arecibo 21-cm observations establish an upper limit on the column density of H I in the R CrB shell implying a maximum shell mass of $\lesssim$0.3 M$_{\odot}$. A low-mass fossil PN shell is still a possible source of the shell although it may not contain enough dust. The mass of gas lost during a white-dwarf merger event will not condense enough dust to produce the observed shell, assuming a reasonable gas-to-dust ratio. The third scenario where the shell around R CrB has been produced during the star's RCB phase seems most likely to produce the observed mass of dust and the observed size of the shell. But this means that R CrB has been in its RCB phase for $\sim$10$^{4}$ yr.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables, Accepted for publication in A

Numerical Simulations of Mass Transfer in Binaries with Bipolytropic Components

We present the first self-consistent, three dimensional study of hydrodynamic simulations of mass transfer in binary systems with bipolytropic (composite polytropic) components. In certain systems, such as contact binaries or during the common envelope phase, the core-envelope structure of the stars plays an important role in binary interactions. In this paper, we compare mass transfer simulations of bipolytropic binary systems in order to test the suitability of our numerical tools for investigating the dynamical behaviour of such systems. The initial, equilibrium binary models possess a core-envelope structure and are obtained using the bipolytropic self-consistent field technique. We conduct mass transfer simulations using two independent, fully three-dimensional, Eulerian codes - Flow-ER and Octo-tiger. These hydrodynamic codes are compared across binary systems undergoing unstable as well as stable mass transfer, and the former at two resolutions. The initial conditions for each simulation and for each code are chosen to match closely so that the simulations can be used as benchmarks. Although there are some key differences, the detailed comparison of the simulations suggests that there is remarkable agreement between the results obtained using the two codes. This study puts our numerical tools on a secure footing, and enables us to reliably simulate specific mass transfer scenarios of binary systems involving components with a core-envelope structure

A Numerical Method for Generating Rapidly Rotating Bipolytropic Structures in Equilibrium

We demonstrate that rapidly rotating bipolytropic (composite polytropic) stars and toroidal disks can be obtained using Hachisu's self consistent field technique. The core and the envelope in such a structure can have different polytropic indices and also different average molecular weights. The models converge for high $T/|W|$ cases, where T is the kinetic energy and W is the gravitational energy of the system. The agreement between our numerical solutions with known analytical as well as previously calculated numerical results is excellent. We show that the uniform rotation lowers the maximum core mass fraction or the Sch$\ddot{\rm{o}}$nberg-Chandrasekhar limit for a bipolytropic sequence. We also discuss the applications of this method to magnetic braking in low mass stars with convective envelopes

The role of dredge-up in double white dwarf mergers

We present the results of an investigation of the dredge-up and mixing during the merger of two white dwarfs with different chemical compositions by conducting hydrodynamic simulations of binary mergers for three representative mass ratios. In all the simulations, the total mass of the two white dwarfs is $\lesssim1.0~{\rm M_\odot}$. Mergers involving a CO and a He white dwarf have been suggested as a possible formation channel for R Coronae Borealis type stars, and we are interested in testing if such mergers lead to conditions and outcomes in agreement with observations. Even if the conditions during the merger and subsequent nucleosynthesis favor the production of $^{18}{\mathrm O}$, the merger must avoid dredging up large amounts of $^{16}{\mathrm O}$, or else it will be difficult to produce sufficient $^{18}{\mathrm O}$ to explain the oxygen ratio observed to be of order unity. We performed a total of 9 simulations using two different grid-based hydrodynamics codes using fixed and adaptive meshes, and one smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code. We find that in most of the simulations, $>10^{-2}~{\rm M_\odot}$ of $^{16}{\mathrm O}$ is indeed dredged up during the merger. However, in SPH simulations where the accretor is a hybrid He/CO white dwarf with a $\sim 0.1~{\rm M_\odot}$ layer of helium on top, we find that no $^{16}{\mathrm O}$ is being dredged up, while in the $q=0.8$ simulation $<10^{-4}~{\rm M_\odot}$ of $^{16}{\mathrm O}$ has been brought up, making a WD binary consisting of a hybrid CO/He WD and a companion He WD an excellent candidate for the progenitor of RCB stars.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap