J. J. Eldridge - Böcker

Research on massive stars is undergoing a period of rapid progress, with long-held convictions being shown to be incomplete. While these stars are relatively few in number, they are the main driver of chemical and dynamical evolution in galaxies through their stellar winds and explosive deaths in core-collapse supernovae. Furthermore the impact of massive stars is widely recognized in many areas, as they are often used as tools to interpret the conditions and processes arising in different environments. In parallel, the development of new instrumentation, analysis techniques and dedicated surveys across all possible wavelengths have delivered large amounts of exquisite new data. These data are now providing a harsh test for the current state-of-the-art theoretical calculations of massive star birth, evolution and death. IAU Symposium 329 covers these topics and is therefore an invaluable resource for researchers in the field of massive stars and their evolution.

Stars are the fundamental observable constituents of the Universe. They are the first objects we see in the night sky, they dominate the light produced in our own and other galaxies, and nucleosynthesis in stars produces all the elements heavier than helium. A knowledge of stars and their evolution is vital to understand other astrophysical objects from accreting black holes and galaxies to the Universe itself.The structure of a star can be described mathematically by differential equations derived from the principles of hydrodynamics, electromagnetic theory, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, atomic and nuclear physics. The basic equations of a spherical star are derived in detail at an accessible level. The topics discussed include modes of energy transport, the equation of state, the physics of the opacity sources and the nuclear reactions. Attention is also given to the virial theorem, polytropic gas spheres and homology principles and the procedure for numerical solution of the equations is outlined. This book tracks the evolution of stars from their main-sequence evolution through the exhaustion of various nuclear fuels to the end points of evolution and also introduces the topic of interacting binary stars. The aim is to take the reader from the essential underlying physical principles to the doors to current research on stellar interiors.