Evolution of the Convective Core Mass during the Main Sequence

Abstract We construct a semianalytical model that describes the convective core mass evolution of massive stars experiencing mass loss during the main-sequence stage. We first conduct a suite of 1D stellar evolution calculations to build insight into how convective core masses behave under idealized mass loss. Based on these simulations, we find several universal relations between global properties of the star that hold regardless of the mass loss history. By combining these relations, we construct a semianalytic framework that can predict the convective core mass evolution for arbitrary mass-loss histories, and hence the helium core mass at the end of the main sequence. Our formulae improve upon existing methods for predicting the core mass in rapid population synthesis codes.