Dr Heiko Moller (Uniwersity of Darmstadt)

Evolution of intermediate-mass stars

In this talk, an overview of evolution and fate of stars from a numerical modeling perspective will be presented. Particular focus will be put on stars ranging between 8 to 12 times the mass of the sun. These stars are of great interest in stellar physics, as they denote the transition region of the less massive stars that end their lives as White Dwarfs and the massive stars that become gravitationally unstable, explode in a core-collapse supernova and either become a Neutron star or a Black Hole. Recent investigations indicate that the fate of intermediate-mass star is very sensitive to uncertainties of occurring nuclear reactions. We show that the temporal evolution in the stellar core is significantly altered by the occurrence of beta-decay and electron-capture processes on nuclei in the sd-shell.