Towards a better understanding of the evolution of Wolf–Rayet stars and Type Ib/Ic supernova progenitors

Abstract

Hydrogen-deficient Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are potential candidates of Type Ib/Ic supernova (SN Ib/Ic) progenitors and their evolution is governed by mass loss. Stellar evolution models with the most popular prescription for WR mass-loss rates given by Nugis & Lamers have difficulties in explaining the luminosity distribution of WR stars of WC and WO types and the SN Ic progenitor properties. Here we suggest some improvements in the WR mass-loss rate prescription and discuss its implications for the evolution of WR stars and SN Ib/Ic progenitors. Recent studies on Galactic WR stars clearly indicate that the mass-loss rates of WC stars are systematically higher than those of WNE stars for a given luminosity. The luminosity and initial metallicity dependencies of WNE mass-loss rates are also significantly different from those of WC stars. These factors have not been adequately considered together in previous stellar evolution models. We also find that an overall increase of WR mass loss rates by about 60 per cent compared to the empirical values obtained with a clumping factor of 10 is needed to explain the most faint WC/WO stars. This moderate increase with our new WR mas-loss rate prescription results in SN Ib/Ic progenitor models more consistent with observations than those given by the Nugis & Lamers prescription. In particular, our new models predict that the properties of SN Ib and SN Ic progenitors are distinctively different, rather than they form a continuous sequence.