2015/11/03 by Jennifer L. Hoffman, Hoffman, Jennifer L., Jamie R. Lomax +1
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #FOS: Physical sciences #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph.SR
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1511.00784
3 pages, 3 figures; to appear in Proceedings of the International Workshop on Wolf-Rayet Stars, ed. W.-R. Hamann, A. Sander, & H. Todt (Potsdam: Universitätsverlag Potsdam). Talk presented at the conference held in Potsdam, Germany, 1-5 June 2015
arxiv created 2015/11/03 · openalex publication_date 2015/11/03 · arxiv updated 2015/11/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Because most massive stars have been or will be affected by a companion during the course of their evolution, we cannot afford to neglect binaries when discussing the progenitors of supernovae and GRBs. Analyzing linear polarization in the emission lines of close binary systems allows us to probe the structures of these systems' winds and mass flows, making it possible to map the complex morphologies of the mass loss and mass transfer structures that shape their subsequent evolution. In Wolf-Rayet (WR) binaries, line polarization variations with orbital phase distinguish polarimetric signatures arising from lines that scatter near the stars from those that scatter far from the orbital plane. These far-scattering lines may form the basis for a "binary line-effect method" of identifying rapidly rotating WR stars (and hence GRB progenitor candidates) in binary systems.