Onderzoek naar de interne en atmosferische fysica van massieve enkelvoudige sterren en dubbelsterren

Asteroseismology played a major role in the advancement of stellar astrophysics over the past decade, due to observations delivered by the Kepler/K2 space mission. Because of the prime focus on exoplanets and their host (lower-mass) stars, Kepler purposely avoided observations of high(er)-mass stars, whose models of the interior structure and evolution are among the worst-calibrated in the meantime. The recently launched NASA TESS space mission is a game changer in the topic as it performs a homogeneous screening of the entire sky, delivering high-precision photometry and covering wide ranges in stellar mass and age. At the same time, we have been collecting the much needed complementary spectroscopic information for intermediate- and high-mass stars, using the Flemish Mercator telescope for the Northern targets, ESO facilities ([email protected] ESO telescope and UVES@VLT) for the Southern targets, and the double-hemisphere facilities of the SDSS-V Survey. This PhD project concerns detailed analysis of the collected so far spectroscopic data sets, with the ultimate goal to provide an observational calibration of the theoretical prescriptions of various physical phenomena in the interior models of intermediate- and high-mass stars, such as interior rotation and mixing profiles and chemical element transport inside these stars.