We present numerical simulations of internal gravity waves (IGW) in a star with a convective core and extended radiative envelope. We report on amplitudes, spectra, dissipation and consequent angular momentum transport by such waves. We find that these waves are generated efficiently and transport angular momentum on short timescales over large distances. We show that, as in Earth's atmosphere, IGW drive equatorial flows which change magnitude and direction on short timescales. These results have profound consequences for the observational inferences of massive stars, as well as their long term angular momentum evolution. We suggest IGW angular momentum transport may explain many observational mysteries, such as: the misalignment of hot Jupiters around hot stars, the Be class of stars, Ni enrichment anomalies in massive stars and the non-synchronous orbits of interacting binaries.

We explore the final fates of massive intermediate-mass stars by computing detailed stellar models from the zero age main sequence until near the end of the thermally pulsing phase. These super-AGB and massive AGB star models are in the mass range between 5.0 and 10.0 M ⊙ for metallicities spanning the range Z=0.02−0.0001. We probe the mass limits M up , M n and M mass , the minimum masses for the onset of carbon burning, the formation of a neutron star, and the iron core-collapse supernovae respectively, to constrain the white dwarf/electron-capture supernova boundary. We provide a theoretical initial to final mass relation for the massive and ultra-massive white dwarfs and specify the mass range for the occurrence of hybrid CO(Ne) white dwarfs. We predict electron-capture supernova (EC-SN) rates for lower metallicities which are significantly lower than existing values from parametric studies in the literature. We conclude the EC-SN channel (for single stars and with the critical assumption being the choice of mass-loss rate) is very narrow in initial mass, at most ≈ 0.2 M ⊙ . This implies that between ∼ 2−5 per cent of all gravitational collapse supernova are EC-SNe in the metallicity range Z=0.02 to 0.0001. With our choice for mass-loss prescription and computed core growth rates we find, within our metallicity range, that CO cores cannot grow sufficiently massive to undergo a Type 1.5 SN explosion.

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Powerful telescopes equipped with multi-fibre or integral field spectrographs combined with detailed models of stellar atmospheres and automated fitting techniques allow for the analysis of large number of stars. These datasets contain a wealth of information that require new analysis techniques to bridge the gap between observations and stellar evolution models. To that end, we develop B (BONN Stellar Astrophysics Interface), a Bayesian statistical method, that is capable of comparing all available observables simultaneously to stellar models while taking observed uncertainties and prior knowledge such as initial mass functions and distributions of stellar rotational velocities into account. B can be used to (1) determine probability distributions of fundamental stellar parameters such as initial masses and stellar ages from complex datasets; (2) predict stellar parameters that were not yet observationally determined; and (3) test stellar models to further advance our understanding of stellar evolution. An important aspect of B is that it singles out stars that cannot be reproduced by stellar models through χ 2 hypothesis tests and posterior predictive checks. B can be used with any set of stellar models and currently supports massive main-sequence single star models of Milky Way and Large and Small Magellanic Cloud composition. We apply our new method to mock stars to demonstrate its functionality and capabilities. In a first application, we use B to test the stellar models of Brott et al. (2011, A&A, 530, A115) by comparing the stellar ages inferred for the primary and secondary stars of eclipsing Milky Way binaries of which the components range in mass between 4.5 and 28 M . Ages are determined from dynamical masses and radii that are known to better than 3%. We show that the stellar models must include rotation because stellar radii can be increased by several percent via centrifugal forces. We find that the average age difference between the primary and secondary stars of the binaries is 0.9 ± 2.3 Myr (95% CI), i.e. that the stellar models reproduce the Milky Way binaries well. The predicted effective temperatures are in agreement for observed effective temperatures for stars cooler than 25 000 K. In hotter stars, i.e. stars earlier than B1-2V and more massive than about 10 M , we find that the observed effective temperatures are on average hotter by 1.1 ± 0.3 kK (95% CI) and the bolometric luminosities are consequently larger by 0.06 ± 0.02 dex (95% CI) than predicted by the stellar models.

We propose that the observed misalignment between extra-solar planets and their hot host stars can be explained by angular momentum transport within the host star. Observations have shown that this misalignment is preferentially around hot stars, which have convective cores and extended radiative envelopes. This situation is amenable to substantial angular momentum transport by internal gravity waves (IGW) generated at the convective-radiative interface. Here we present numerical simulations of this process and show that IGW can modulate the surface rotation of the star. With these twodimensional simulations we show that IGW could explain the retrograde orbits observed in systems such as HAT-P-6 and HAT-P-7, however, extension to high obliquity objects will await future threedimensional simulations. We note that these results also imply that individual massive stars should show temporal variations in their v sini measurements.