Thermohaline mixing and the photospheric composition of low-mass giant stars

Autores
Wachlin, Felipe Carlos; Miller Bertolami, Marcelo Miguel; Althaus, Leandro Gabriel
Año de publicación
2011
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
Aims. By means of numerical simulations and different recipes, we test the efficiency of thermohaline mixing as a process to alter the surface abundances in low-mass giant stars. Methods. We compute full evolutionary sequences of red giant branch stars close to the luminosity bump by including state-of-the-art composition transport prescriptions for the thermohaline mixing regimes. In particular, we adopt a self-consistent double-diffusive convection theory that allows handling both instabilities that arise when thermal and composition gradients compete against each other and a very recent empirically motivated and parameter-free asymptotic scaling law for thermohaline composition transport. Results. In agreement with previous works, we find that, during the red giant stage, a thermohaline instability sets in shortly after the hydrogen burning shell (HBS) encounters the chemical discontinuity left behind by the first dredge-up. We also find that the thermohaline unstable region, which initially appears on the exterior wing of the HBS, is unable to reach the outer convective envelope, with the consequence that no mixing of elements occurs that produces a noncanonical modification of the stellar surface abundances. Also in agreement with previous works, we find that artificially increasing the mixing efficiency of thermohaline regions makes it possible to connect both unstable regions, thus affecting the photospheric composition. However, we find that to reproduce the observed abundances of red giant branch stars close to the luminosity bump, thermohaline mixing efficiency has to be artificially increased by about four orders of magnitude from what is predicted by recent 3D numerical simulations of thermohaline convection close to astrophysical environments. From this we conclude that the chemical abundance anomalies of red giant stars cannot be explained on the basis of thermohaline mixing alone.
Fil: Wachlin, Felipe Carlos. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plata; Argentina
Fil: Miller Bertolami, Marcelo Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; Argentina
Fil: Althaus, Leandro Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; Argentina
Materia
Instabilities
Abundances of stars
Evolution of stars
Interior stars
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
Repositorio
CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Institución
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
OAI Identificador
oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/10069

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network_name_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
spelling Thermohaline mixing and the photospheric composition of low-mass giant starsWachlin, Felipe CarlosMiller Bertolami, Marcelo MiguelAlthaus, Leandro GabrielInstabilitiesAbundances of starsEvolution of starsInterior starshttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.3https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1Aims. By means of numerical simulations and different recipes, we test the efficiency of thermohaline mixing as a process to alter the surface abundances in low-mass giant stars. Methods. We compute full evolutionary sequences of red giant branch stars close to the luminosity bump by including state-of-the-art composition transport prescriptions for the thermohaline mixing regimes. In particular, we adopt a self-consistent double-diffusive convection theory that allows handling both instabilities that arise when thermal and composition gradients compete against each other and a very recent empirically motivated and parameter-free asymptotic scaling law for thermohaline composition transport. Results. In agreement with previous works, we find that, during the red giant stage, a thermohaline instability sets in shortly after the hydrogen burning shell (HBS) encounters the chemical discontinuity left behind by the first dredge-up. We also find that the thermohaline unstable region, which initially appears on the exterior wing of the HBS, is unable to reach the outer convective envelope, with the consequence that no mixing of elements occurs that produces a noncanonical modification of the stellar surface abundances. Also in agreement with previous works, we find that artificially increasing the mixing efficiency of thermohaline regions makes it possible to connect both unstable regions, thus affecting the photospheric composition. However, we find that to reproduce the observed abundances of red giant branch stars close to the luminosity bump, thermohaline mixing efficiency has to be artificially increased by about four orders of magnitude from what is predicted by recent 3D numerical simulations of thermohaline convection close to astrophysical environments. From this we conclude that the chemical abundance anomalies of red giant stars cannot be explained on the basis of thermohaline mixing alone.Fil: Wachlin, Felipe Carlos. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Miller Bertolami, Marcelo Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; ArgentinaFil: Althaus, Leandro Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; ArgentinaEdp Sciences2011-09info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/10069Wachlin, Felipe Carlos; Miller Bertolami, Marcelo Miguel; Althaus, Leandro Gabriel; Thermohaline mixing and the photospheric composition of low-mass giant stars; Edp Sciences; Astronomy And Astrophysics; 533; a139; 9-2011; 139-1450004-6361enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1051/0004-6361/201117029info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/http://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2011/09/aa17029-11/aa17029-11.htmlinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2025-09-29T09:43:30Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/10069instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982025-09-29 09:43:30.958CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Thermohaline mixing and the photospheric composition of low-mass giant stars
title Thermohaline mixing and the photospheric composition of low-mass giant stars
spellingShingle Thermohaline mixing and the photospheric composition of low-mass giant stars
Wachlin, Felipe Carlos
Instabilities
Abundances of stars
Evolution of stars
Interior stars
title_short Thermohaline mixing and the photospheric composition of low-mass giant stars
title_full Thermohaline mixing and the photospheric composition of low-mass giant stars
title_fullStr Thermohaline mixing and the photospheric composition of low-mass giant stars
title_full_unstemmed Thermohaline mixing and the photospheric composition of low-mass giant stars
title_sort Thermohaline mixing and the photospheric composition of low-mass giant stars
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Wachlin, Felipe Carlos
Miller Bertolami, Marcelo Miguel
Althaus, Leandro Gabriel
author Wachlin, Felipe Carlos
author_facet Wachlin, Felipe Carlos
Miller Bertolami, Marcelo Miguel
Althaus, Leandro Gabriel
author_role author
author2 Miller Bertolami, Marcelo Miguel
Althaus, Leandro Gabriel
author2_role author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Instabilities
Abundances of stars
Evolution of stars
Interior stars
topic Instabilities
Abundances of stars
Evolution of stars
Interior stars
purl_subject.fl_str_mv https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.3
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv Aims. By means of numerical simulations and different recipes, we test the efficiency of thermohaline mixing as a process to alter the surface abundances in low-mass giant stars. Methods. We compute full evolutionary sequences of red giant branch stars close to the luminosity bump by including state-of-the-art composition transport prescriptions for the thermohaline mixing regimes. In particular, we adopt a self-consistent double-diffusive convection theory that allows handling both instabilities that arise when thermal and composition gradients compete against each other and a very recent empirically motivated and parameter-free asymptotic scaling law for thermohaline composition transport. Results. In agreement with previous works, we find that, during the red giant stage, a thermohaline instability sets in shortly after the hydrogen burning shell (HBS) encounters the chemical discontinuity left behind by the first dredge-up. We also find that the thermohaline unstable region, which initially appears on the exterior wing of the HBS, is unable to reach the outer convective envelope, with the consequence that no mixing of elements occurs that produces a noncanonical modification of the stellar surface abundances. Also in agreement with previous works, we find that artificially increasing the mixing efficiency of thermohaline regions makes it possible to connect both unstable regions, thus affecting the photospheric composition. However, we find that to reproduce the observed abundances of red giant branch stars close to the luminosity bump, thermohaline mixing efficiency has to be artificially increased by about four orders of magnitude from what is predicted by recent 3D numerical simulations of thermohaline convection close to astrophysical environments. From this we conclude that the chemical abundance anomalies of red giant stars cannot be explained on the basis of thermohaline mixing alone.
Fil: Wachlin, Felipe Carlos. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plata; Argentina
Fil: Miller Bertolami, Marcelo Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; Argentina
Fil: Althaus, Leandro Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; Argentina
description Aims. By means of numerical simulations and different recipes, we test the efficiency of thermohaline mixing as a process to alter the surface abundances in low-mass giant stars. Methods. We compute full evolutionary sequences of red giant branch stars close to the luminosity bump by including state-of-the-art composition transport prescriptions for the thermohaline mixing regimes. In particular, we adopt a self-consistent double-diffusive convection theory that allows handling both instabilities that arise when thermal and composition gradients compete against each other and a very recent empirically motivated and parameter-free asymptotic scaling law for thermohaline composition transport. Results. In agreement with previous works, we find that, during the red giant stage, a thermohaline instability sets in shortly after the hydrogen burning shell (HBS) encounters the chemical discontinuity left behind by the first dredge-up. We also find that the thermohaline unstable region, which initially appears on the exterior wing of the HBS, is unable to reach the outer convective envelope, with the consequence that no mixing of elements occurs that produces a noncanonical modification of the stellar surface abundances. Also in agreement with previous works, we find that artificially increasing the mixing efficiency of thermohaline regions makes it possible to connect both unstable regions, thus affecting the photospheric composition. However, we find that to reproduce the observed abundances of red giant branch stars close to the luminosity bump, thermohaline mixing efficiency has to be artificially increased by about four orders of magnitude from what is predicted by recent 3D numerical simulations of thermohaline convection close to astrophysical environments. From this we conclude that the chemical abundance anomalies of red giant stars cannot be explained on the basis of thermohaline mixing alone.
publishDate 2011
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2011-09
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/11336/10069
Wachlin, Felipe Carlos; Miller Bertolami, Marcelo Miguel; Althaus, Leandro Gabriel; Thermohaline mixing and the photospheric composition of low-mass giant stars; Edp Sciences; Astronomy And Astrophysics; 533; a139; 9-2011; 139-145
0004-6361
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/10069
identifier_str_mv Wachlin, Felipe Carlos; Miller Bertolami, Marcelo Miguel; Althaus, Leandro Gabriel; Thermohaline mixing and the photospheric composition of low-mass giant stars; Edp Sciences; Astronomy And Astrophysics; 533; a139; 9-2011; 139-145
0004-6361
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1051/0004-6361/201117029
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/http://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2011/09/aa17029-11/aa17029-11.html
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Edp Sciences
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Edp Sciences
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
reponame_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
collection CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname_str Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.name.fl_str_mv CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.mail.fl_str_mv dasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.ar
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