Issue |
A&A
Volume 400, Number 1, March II 2003
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 63 - 79 | |
Section | Extragalactic astronomy | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20021884 | |
Published online | 24 February 2003 |
The effects of binaries on the evolution of Wolf-Rayet type spectral features in starbursts
Astrophysical Institute, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium e-mail: dvbevere@vub.ac.be
Corresponding author: J. Van Bever, jvbever@vub.ac.be
Received:
18
March
2002
Accepted:
27
November
2002
In the present paper we investigate in detail the effects of
binaries with initial period
between 1 day and 10 years on theoretical simulations of Wolf-Rayet
(WR) type spectral
features in starbursts. We focus on the evolution of the nebular
line in
starburst in general, on the intensity ratios
,
, and
as a function of the equivalent width of
of WR galaxies in
particular. The binary evolutionary processes that dominate the
evolution of the considered
spectral features are the Roche lobe overflow in case Br systems, the
mass transfer
efficiency, and the merger rate. We show that the predictions on
nebular He II depend
critically on the uncertainties in the theory of WR atmospheres and
particularly on uncertainties in the
treatment of the subsonic velocity region of the WR wind. The
observations of low metallicity
starbursts are best reproduced by a theoretical model with a
significant number of binaries
and with a metallicity-dependent WR wind.
Key words: stars: evolution / stars: binaries: general / stars: Wolf-Rayet
© ESO, 2003
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