Wolf-Rayet stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud: I. Analysis of the single WN stars

Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars have a severe impact on their environments owing to their strong ionizing radiation fields and powerful stellar winds. Since these winds are considered to be driven by radiation pressure, it is theoretically expected that the degree of the wind mass-loss depends on the initial metallicity of WR stars. Following our comprehensive studies of WR stars in the Milky Way, M31, and the LMC, we derive stellar parameters and mass-loss rates for all seven putatively single WN stars known in the SMC. Based on these data, we discuss the impact of a low-metallicity environment on the mass loss and evolution of WR stars. The quantitative analysis of the WN stars is performed with the Potsdam Wolf-Rayet (PoWR) model atmosphere code. The physical properties of our program stars are obtained from fitting synthetic spectra to multi-band observations. In all SMC WN stars, a considerable surface hydrogen abundance is detectable. The majority of these objects have stellar temperatures exceeding 75 kK, while their luminosities range from 10^5.5 to 10^6.1 Lsun. The WN stars in the SMC exhibit on average lower mass-loss rates and weaker winds than their counterparts in the Milky Way, M31, and the LMC. By comparing the mass-loss rates derived for WN stars in different Local Group galaxies, we conclude that a clear dependence of the wind mass-loss on the initial metallicity is evident, supporting the current paradigm that WR winds are driven by radiation. A metallicity effect on the evolution of massive stars is obvious from the HRD positions of the SMC WN stars at high temperatures and high luminosities. Standard evolution tracks are not able to reproduce these parameters and the observed surface hydrogen abundances. Homogeneous evolution might provide a better explanation for their evolutionary past.Comment: 18+12 pages; 22+8 figures; accepted for publication in A&

Strongly residual coordinates over A[x]

For a domain A of characteristic zero, a polynomial f over A[x] is called a strongly residual coordinate if f becomes a coordinate (over A) upon going modulo x, and f becomes a coordinate upon inverting x. We study the question of when a strongly residual coordinate is a coordinate, a question closely related to the Dolgachev-Weisfeiler conjecture. It is known that all strongly residual coordinates are coordinates for n=2 . We show that a large class of strongly residual coordinates that are generated by elementaries upon inverting x are in fact coordinates for arbitrary n, with a stronger result in the n=3 case. As an application, we show that all Venereau-type polynomials are 1-stable coordinates.Comment: 15 pages. Some minor clarifications and notational improvements from the first versio

The XMM-Newton EPIC X-ray Light Curve Analysis of WR 6

We obtained four pointings of over 100 ks each of the well-studied Wolf-Rayet star WR 6 with the XMM-Newton satellite. With a first paper emphasizing the results of spectral analysis, this follow-up highlights the X-ray variability clearly detected in all four pointings. However, phased light curves fail to confirm obvious cyclic behavior on the well-established 3.766 d period widely found at longer wavelengths. The data are of such quality that we were able to conduct a search for "event clustering" in the arrival times of X-ray photons. However, we fail to detect any such clustering. One possibility is that X-rays are generated in a stationary shock structure. In this context we favor a co-rotating interaction region (CIR) and present a phenomenological model for X-rays from a CIR structure. We show that a CIR has the potential to account simultaneously for the X-ray variability and constraints provided by the spectral analysis. Ultimately, the viability of the CIR model will require both intermittent long-term X-ray monitoring of WR 6 and better physical models of CIR X-ray production at large radii in stellar winds.Comment: to appear in Ap

Broad P V Absorption in the BALQSO, PG 1254+047: Column Densities, Ionizations and Metal Abundances in BAL Winds

This paper discusses the detection of P V 1118,1128 and other broad absorption lines (BALs) in archival HST spectra of the low-redshift BALQSO, PG 1254+047. The P V identification is secured by excellent redshift and profile coincidences with the other BALs, such as C IV 1548,1550 and Si IV 1393,1403, and by photoionization calculations showing that other lines near this wavelength, e.g. Fe III 1123, should be much weaker than P V. The observed BAL strengths imply that either 1) there are extreme abundance ratios such as [C/H] >~ +1.0, [Si/H] >~ +1.8 and [P/C] >~ +2.2, or 2) at least some of the lines are much more optically thick than they appear. I argue that the significant presence of P V absorption indicates severe line saturation, which is disguised in the observed (moderate-strength) BALs because the absorber does not fully cover the continuum source(s) along our line(s) of sight. Computed optical depths for all UV resonance lines show that the observed BALs are consistent with solar abundances if 1) the ionization parameter is at least moderately high, log U >~ -0.6, 2) the total hydrogen column density is log N_H(cm-2) >~ 22.0, and 3) the optical depths in strong lines like C IV and O VI 1032,1038 are >~25 and >~80, respectively. These optical depths and column densities are at least an order of magnitude larger than expected from the residual intensities in the BAL troughs, but they are consistent with the large absorbing columns derived from X-ray observations of BALQSOs. The outflowing BALR, at velocities from -15,000 to -27,000 km/s in PG 1254+047, is therefore a strong candidate for the X-ray absorber in BALQSOs.Comment: 16 pages (LaTeX) plus 8 pages of figures in one file (pg1254_figs.ps.gz), in press with Ap

Using BBN in cosmological parameter extraction from CMB: a forecast for Planck

Data from future high-precision Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) measurements will be sensitive to the primordial Helium abundance $Y_p$. At the same time, this parameter can be predicted from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) as a function of the baryon and radiation densities, as well as a neutrino chemical potential. We suggest to use this information to impose a self-consistent BBN prior on $Y_p$ and determine its impact on parameter inference from simulated Planck data. We find that this approach can significantly improve bounds on cosmological parameters compared to an analysis which treats $Y_p$ as a free parameter, if the neutrino chemical potential is taken to vanish. We demonstrate that fixing the Helium fraction to an arbitrary value can seriously bias parameter estimates. Under the assumption of degenerate BBN (i.e., letting the neutrino chemical potential $\xi$ vary), the BBN prior's constraining power is somewhat weakened, but nevertheless allows us to constrain $\xi$ with an accuracy that rivals bounds inferred from present data on light element abundances.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures; v2: minor changes, matches published versio

Low-metallicity massive single stars with rotation. II. Predicting spectra and spectral classes of chemically-homogeneously evolving stars

Context. Metal-poor massive stars are supposed to be progenitors of certain supernovae, gamma-ray bursts and compact object mergers, potentially contributing to the early epochs of the Universe with their strong ionizing radiation. However, they remain mainly theoretical as individual spectroscopic observations of such objects have rarely been carried out below the metallicity of the SMC. Aims. This work aims at exploring what our state-of-the-art theories of stellar evolution combined with those of stellar atmospheres predict about a certain type of metal-poor (0.02 Z$_{\odot}$) hot massive stars, the chemically homogeneously evolving ones, called TWUIN stars. Methods. Synthetic spectra corresponding to a broad range in masses (20-130 M$_{\odot}$) and covering several evolutionary phases from the zero-age main-sequence up to the core helium-burning stage were computed. Results. We find that TWUIN stars show almost no emission lines during most of their {core hydrogen-burning} lifetimes. Most metal lines are completely absent, including nitrogen. During their core helium-burning stage, lines switch to emission and even some metal lines (oxygen and carbon, but still almost no nitrogen) show up. Mass loss and clumping play a significant role in line-formation in later evolutionary phases, particularly during core helium-burning. Most of our spectra are classified as an early O type giant or supergiant, and we find Wolf-Rayet stars of type WO in the core helium-burning phase. Conclusions. An extremely hot, early O type star observed in a low-metallicity galaxy could be the outcome of chemically homogeneous evolution $-$ and therefore the progenitor of a long-duration gamma-ray burst or a type Ic supernova. TWUIN stars may play an important role in reionizing the Universe due to their being hot without showing prominent emission lines during the majority of their lifetimes.Comment: Accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysics. In Pres