The presupernova core mass-radius relation of massive stars: understanding its formation and evolution

Abstract

We present a fine grid of solar metallicity models of massive stars (320 in the range 12$\leq$M(\msun)$\leq$27.95), extending from the Main Sequence up to the onset of the collapse, in order to quantitatively determine how their compactness $\xi_{2.5}$ (as defined by O'Connor $\&$ Ott, 2011, ApJ 730, 70) scales with the Carbon Oxygen core mass at the beginning of the core collapse. We find a well defined, not monotonic (but not scattered) trend of the compactness with the Carbon Oxygen core mass that is strictly (and mainly) correlated to the behavior, i.e. birth, growth and disappearance, of the various C convective episodes that follow one another during the advanced evolutionary phases. Though both the mass size of the Carbon Oxygen core and the amount of \nuk{C}{12} left by the He burning play a major role in sculpting the final Mass-Radius relation, it is the abundance of \nuk{C}{12} the ultimate responsible for the final degree of compactness of a star because it controls the ability of the C burning shell to advance in mass before the final collapse.