The effects of surface fossil magnetic fields on massive star evolution: V. Models at low metallicity

Abstract

ABSTRACT At metallicities lower than that of the Small Magellanic Cloud, it remains essentially unexplored how fossil magnetic fields, forming large-scale magnetospheres, could affect the evolution of massive stars, thereby impacting the fundamental building blocks of the early Universe. We extend our stellar evolution model grid with representative calculations of main-sequence, single-star models with initial masses of 20 and 60 M$_\odot$, including appropriate changes for low-metallicity environments ($Z = 10^{-3}$–$10^{-6}$). We scrutinize the magnetic, rotational, and chemical properties of the models. When lowering the metallicity, the rotational velocities can become higher and the tendency towards quasi-chemically homogeneous evolution increases. While magnetic fields aim to prevent the development of this evolutionary channel, the weakening stellar winds lead to less efficient magnetic braking in our models. Since the stellar radius is almost constant during a blueward evolution caused by efficient chemical mixing, the surface magnetic field strength remains unchanged in some models. We find core masses at the terminal-age main sequence between 22 and 52 M$_\odot$ for initially 60 M$_\odot$ models. This large difference is due to the vastly different chemical and rotational evolution. We conclude that in order to explain chemical species and, in particular, high nitrogen abundances in the early Universe, the adopted stellar models need to be under scrutiny. The assumptions regarding wind physics, chemical mixing, and magnetic fields will strongly impact the model predictions.