Shock-Driven Evolution and Survival of Dust in Circumstellar Environments
Dust formed in stellar ejecta is a major contributor to the cosmic dust budget, yet its long-term survival remains uncertain. Massive stars can produce important amounts of dust during their evolution. However, the intense radiation and mechanical feedback from the star itself, especially a potential subsequent supernova (SN), could efficiently destroy this dust. Understanding the balance between dust formation and destruction is critical for determining the net contribution of massive stars to cosmic dust.
In this talk, I will review the physical processes that shape the early survival of dust in circumstellar environments. These include mechanical feedback from stellar winds and SN shocks, as well as radiative effects such as grain alignment and spin-up by radiative torques. I will also discuss how environmental factors, including circumstellar geometry, and anisotropic outflows, determine the efficiency of destruction mechanisms. These processes are important for the understanding of the fate of dust around individual massive stars and also in the scale of galaxies.