Completing the Massive Star Population: Striking Into the Field
M. S. Oey and J. B. Lamb
University of Michigan
As a population, field massive stars are relatively enigmatic, and
this review attempts to illuminate this sector of the
high-mass stellar population, which comprises 20 -- 25% of the massive
stars in star-forming galaxies. The statistical properties of the
field population are vital diagnostics of star formation
theory, cluster dynamical evolution, and stellar evolution.
We present evidence that field massive
stars originate both in situ and as runaways from clusters,
based on the clustering law, IMF, rotation velocities, and individual
observed in situ candidate field stars. We compare the known
properties of field and cluster massive stars from studies in the
Magellanic Clouds and the Galaxy, including our RIOTS4 complete
spectroscopic survey of SMC OB stars. In addition to the origin of
the field massive stars, we discuss additional properties including
binarity, runaway mechanisms, and some evolved spectral types.
Reference: Four Decades of Research on Massive Stars, eds. L. Drissen, C. Robert, and N. St.-Louis, ASP Conference Series
Status: Conference proceedings
Weblink: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011arXiv1109.0759
Comments: Invited review
Email: msoey@umich.edu