Date: 04.06.2024

Dorottya Szecsi (UMK Torun) IN PERSON

The dirty secrets of stellar evolution modelling

Abstract:
The evolution of massive stars is the basis of several astrophysical investigations, from predicting gravitational-wave event rates to studying star-formation, stellar populations and chemical evolution of the Universe. However, 1D simulations of massive stars, especially those above 40 M☉, are subject to serious uncertainties. I present a comparison between five published sets of stellar models (PARSEC, MIST/MESA, Geneva, BPASS and BoOST/Bonn simulations). I show that there are important differences between the predictions, which can lead to strikingly different results in explaining observations of stellar populations such as gravitational-wave event rates. Related article: 2022MNRAS.512.5717

Bio:

Assistant Professor at the Institute of Astronomy – Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Informatics – Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland. Previously, I was a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham; and at the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. I received my PhD at the Argelander-Institut für Astronomie (Bonn University), in a graduation model of the Bonn-Cologne Grad. School, and as a member of the Stellar Astrophysics Group led by Prof. Dr. N. Langer. I graduated (MSc & BSc in Physics) at the Eötvös University (ELTE) in Budapest. Homepage