Effects of rotation and thermohaline mixing in red giant stars
C. Charbonnel, N. Lagarde, P. Eggenberger
备注:
Proc. of the workshop "Red Giants as Probes of the Structure and Evolution of the Milky Way" (Roma, 15-17 Nov 2010), Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, ISBN 978-3-642-18417-8 (eds. A. Miglio, J. Montalban, A. Noels). Part of RedGiantsMilkyWay/2011/ proceedings available at http://arxiv.org/html/1108.4406v1
Thermohaline mixing has been recently identified as the probable dominating process that governs the photospheric composition of low-mass bright giant stars. Here we present the predictions of stellar models computed with the code STAREVOL including this mechanism together with rotational mixing. We compare our theoretical predictions with recent observations.
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 to handle the 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. In agreement with previous works, we find that during the red giant stage, a thermohal…
We review the observational evidence for extra mixing in stars on the red giant branch (RGB) and discuss why thermohaline mixing is a strong candidate mechanism. We recall the simple phenomenological description of thermohaline mixing, and aspects of mixing in stars in general. We use observations of M3 to constrain the form of the thermohaline diffusion coefficient and any associated free parameters. This is done by matching [C/Fe] and [N/Fe] along the RGB of M3. After taking into account a presumed initial primordial bimodality of [C/Fe] in the CN-weak and CN-strong stars our thermohaline mi…
First results of our 3D numerical simulations of thermohaline convection driven by 3He burning in a low-mass RGB star at the bump luminosity are presented. They confirm our previous conclusion that this convection has a mixing rate which is a factor of 50 lower than the observationally constrained rate of RGB extra-mixing. It is also shown that the large-scale instabilities of salt-fingering mean field (those of the Boussinesq and advection-diffusion equations averaged over length and time scales of many salt fingers), which have been observed to increase the rate of oceanic thermohaline mixin…
Thermohaline mixing is a favoured mechanism for the so-called "extra mixing" on the red giant branch of low-mass stars. The mixing is triggered by the molecular weight inversion created above the hydrogen shell during first dredge-up when helium-3 burns via 3He(3He,2p)4He. The standard 1D diffusive mixing scheme cannot simultaneously match carbon and lithium abundances to NGC 6397 red giants. We investigate two modifications to the standard scheme: (1) an advective two stream mixing algorithm, and (2) modifications to the standard 1D thermohaline mixing formalism. We cannot simultaneously matc…
We provide a brief review of thermohaline physics and why it is a candidate extra mixing mechanism during the red giant branch (RGB). We discuss how thermohaline mixing (also called $δ$ $μ$ mixing) during the RGB due to helium-3 burning, is more complicated than the operation of thermohaline mixing in other stellar contexts (such as following accretion from a binary companion). We try to use observations of carbon depletion in globular clusters to help constrain the formalism and the diffusion coefficient or mixing velocity that should be used in stellar models. We are able to match the spread…
We examine the effects of thermohaline mixing on the composition of the envelopes of low-metallicity asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. We have evolved models of 1, 1.5 and 2 solar masses from the pre-main sequence to the end of the thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch with thermohaline mixing applied throughout the simulations. In agreement with other authors, we find that thermohaline mixing substantially reduces the abundance of helium-3 on the upper part of the red giant branch in our lowest mass model. However, the small amount of helium-3 that remains is enough to drive thermohali…
Thermohaline mixing has recently been proposed to occur in low-mass red giants, with large consequence for the chemical yields of low-mass stars. We investigate the role of thermohaline mixing during the evolution of stars between 1Msun and 3Msun, in comparison to other mixing processes acting in these stars. We use a stellar evolution code which includes rotational mixing, internal magnetic fields and thermohaline mixing. We confirm that during the red giant stage, thermohaline mixing has the potential to decrease the abundance of ^3He which is produced earlier on the main sequence. In our mo…
In recent years much interest has been shown in the process of thermohaline mixing in red giants. In low and intermediate mass stars this mechanism first activates at the position of the bump in the luminosity function, and has been identified as a likely candidate for driving the slow mixing inferred to occur in these stars. One particularly important consequence of this process, which is driven by a molecular weight inversion, is the destruction of lithium. We show that the degree of lithium destruction, or in some cases production, is extremely sensitive to the numerical details of the stel…
The abundances of mixing--sensitive elements including lithium, [C/N], and 12C/13C are known to change near the red giant branch bump. The explanation most often offered for these alterations is double diffusive thermohaline mixing in the stellar interior. In this analysis, we investigate the ability of thermohaline mixing to explain the observed timing of these chemical depletion events. Recent observational measurements of lithium and [C/N] show that the abundance of lithium decreases before the abundance of [C/N], whereas numerical simulations of the propagation of the thermohaline mixing r…
The GES survey using FLAMES at the VLT has obtained high-resolution UVES spectra for a large number of giant stars, allowing a determination of the abundances of the key chemical elements C and N at their surface. The surface abundances of these chemical species are well-known to change in stars during their evolution on the red giant branch after the first dredge-up episod, as a result of extra-mixing phenomena. We investigate the effects of thermohaline mixing on C and N abundances using the first comparison between the GES [C/N] determinations with simulations of the observed fields using a…
Low-mass stars are known to experience extra-mixing in their radiative zones on the red-giant branch (RGB) above the bump luminosity. To determine if the salt-fingering transport of chemical composition driven by 3He burning is efficient enough to produce RGB extra-mixing, 2D numerical simulations of thermohaline convection for physical conditions corresponding to the RGB case have been carried out. We have found that the effective ratio of a salt-finger's length to its diameter a_eff < 0.5 is more than ten times smaller than the value needed to reproduce observations (a_obs > 7). On the other…
It is now widely accepted that globular cluster red giant branch stars owe their strange abundance patterns to a combination of pollution from progenitor stars and in situ extra mixing. In this hybrid theory a first generation of stars imprint abundance patterns into the gas from which a second generation forms. The hybrid theory suggests that extra mixing is operating in both populations and we use the variation of [C/Fe] with luminosity to examine how efficient this mixing is. We investigate the observed red giant branches of M3, M13, M92, M15 and NGC 5466 as a means to test a theory of ther…
Observations show an almost ubiquitous presence of extra mixing in low-mass upper giant branch stars. The most commonly invoked explanation for this is thermohaline mixing. One-dimensional stellar evolution models include various prescriptions for thermohaline mixing, but the use of observational data directly to discriminate between thermohaline prescriptions has thus far been limited. Here, we propose a new framework to facilitate direct comparison: Using carbon-to-nitrogen measurements from the SDSS-IV APOGEE survey as a probe of mixing and a fluid parameter known as the reduced density rat…
Lithium is extensively known to be a good tracer of non-standard mixing processes occurring in stellar interiors. We present the results of a new large Lithium survey in red giant stars and combine it with surveys from the literature to probe the impact of rotation-induced mixing and thermohaline double-diffusive instability along stellar evolution. We determined the surface Li abundance for a sample of 829 giant stars with accurate Gaia parallaxes for a large sub-sample (810 stars) complemented with accurate Hipparcos parallaxes (19 stars). The spectra of our sample of northern and southern g…
Aims. We examine the interactions of various instabilities in rotating stars, which usually are considered as independent. Methods. An analytical study of the problem is performed, account is given to radiative losses, mu-gradients and horizontal turbulence. Results. The diffusion coefficient for an ensemble of instabilities is not given by the sum of the specific coefficients for each instability, but by the solution of a general equation. We find that thermohaline mixing is possible in low-mass red giants only if the horizontal turbulence is very weak. In rotating stars the Rayleigh-Taylor a…
Extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars are an integral piece in the puzzle that is the early Universe, and although anomolous subclasses of EMP stars such as carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars are well-studied, they make up less than half of all EMP stars with [Fe/H] $\sim -3.0$. The amount of carbon depletion occurring on the red giant branch (carbon offset) is used to determine the evolutionary status of EMP stars, and this offset will differ between CEMP and normal EMP stars. The depletion mechanism employed in stellar models (from which carbon offfsets are derived) is very important, howeve…
Recent studies of low- and intermediate-mass stars show that the evolution of the chemical elements in these stars is very different from that proposed by standard stellar models. Rotation-induced mixing modifies the internal chemical structure of main sequence stars, although its signatures are revealed only later in the evolution when the first dredge-up occurs. Thermohaline mixing is likely the dominating process that governs the photospheric composition of low-mass red giant branch stars and has been shown to drastically reduce the net 3He production in these stars. The predictions of thes…
Context. The 3He content of Galactic HII regions is very close to that of the Sun and the solar system, and only slightly higher than the primordial 3He abundance as predicted by the standard Big Bang nucleosynthesis. However, the classical theory of stellar evolution predicts a high production of 3He by low-mass stars, implying a strong increase of 3He with time in the Galaxy. This is the well-known "3He problem". Aims. We study the effects of thermohaline and rotation-induced mixings on the production and destruction of 3He over the lifetime of low- and intermediate-mass stars at various met…
(abridged) Numerous spectroscopic observations provide compelling evidence for non-canonical processes that modify the surface abundances of low- and intermediate-mass stars beyond the predictions of standard stellar theory. We study the effects of thermohaline instability and rotation-induced mixing in the 1-4 Msun range at solar metallicity. We present evolutionary models by considering both thermohaline and rotation-induced mixing in stellar interior. We discuss the effects of these processes on the chemical properties of stars from the zero age main sequence up to the end of the second dre…
The availability of asteroseismic constraints for a large sample of stars from the missions CoRoT and Kepler paves the way for various statistical studies of the seismic properties of stellar populations. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of rotation-induced mixing and thermohaline instability on the global asteroseismic parameters at different stages of the stellar evolution from the Zero Age Main Sequence to the Thermally Pulsating Asymptotic Giant Branch to distinguish stellar populations. We present a grid of stellar evolutionary models for four metallicities (Z = 0.0001, 0.002, 0.004,…
Atomic diffusion may lead to heavy element accumulation inside stars in certain specific layers. Iron accumulation in the Z-bump opacity region has been invoked by several authors to quantitatively account for abundance anomalies observed in some stars, or to account for stellar oscillations through the induced $κ$-mechanism. These authors however never took into account the fact that such an accumulation creates an inverse $μ$-gradient, unstable for thermohaline convection. Here, we present results for A-F stars, where abundance variations are computed with and without this process. We show t…
We have derived a new expression for the thermohaline mixing coefficient in stars, including the effects of radiative levitation and external turbulence, by solving Boussinesq equations in a quasi-incompressible fluid with a linear approximation. It is well known that radiative levitation of individual elements can lead to their accumulation in specific stellar layers. In some cases, it can induce important effects on the stellar structure. Here we confirm that this accumulation is moderated by thermohaline convection due to the resulting inverse $μ$-gradient. The new coefficient that we have …
The availability of asteroseismic constrains for of large sample of stars observed with CoRoT and Kepler paves the way for statistical studies of the seismic properties of stellar populations, and becomes a powerful tool to better understand stellar structure and evolution. Here I present predictions of stellar models computed with the code STAREVOL including thermohaline mixing together with rotational mixing. I compare the theoretical predictions for the chemical properties of stars with recent spectroscopic of both field and cluster stars observations, and discuss the effects of both mechan…
Context. The availability of asteroseismic constraints for a large sample of red giant stars from the CoRoT and Kepler missions paves the way for various statistical studies of the seismic properties of stellar populations. Aims. We use the first detailed spectroscopic study of 19 CoRoT red-giant stars (Morel et al 2014) to compare theoretical stellar evolution models to observations of the open cluster NGC 6633 and field stars. Methods. In order to explore the effects of rotation-induced mixing and thermohaline instability, we compare surface abundances of carbon isotopic ratio and lithium wi…
The cornerstone mission Gaia, together with complementary surveys, will revolutionize our understanding of the formation and history of our Galaxy, providing accurate stellar masses, radii, ages, distances, as well as chemical properties for a very large sample of stars across different Galactic stellar populations.Using an improved population synthesis approach and new stellar evolution models we attempt to evaluate the possibility of deriving ages and masses of clump stars from their chemical properties.A new version of the Besancon Galaxy model (BGM) uses new stellar evolutionary tracks com…
Although not predicted by standard stellar evolution, the surface abundance of light elements, such as lithium (Li), carbon, and nitrogen, changes during the red giant branch (RGB) as a result of extra-mixing. This is associated usually with thermohaline mixing acting after the RGB bump. Peculiar Li-enriched RGB stars might also be related to either enhanced extra-mixing or pollution from external sources. We measure the Li abundance and carbon isotopic ratio 12C/13C in a sample of 166 field red giants with -0.3<[Fe/H]<0.2, targeted by the EXPRESS radial velocity program to analyze the effects…
We measured carbon abundances and the $^{12}\mathrm{C}/^{13}\mathrm{C}$ ratio in 31 giant branch stars with previous CN and CH band measurements that span -2.33 $<$ M$_{\rm V}$ $<$ 0.18 in the globular cluster M10 (NGC 6254). Abundances were determined by comparing CO features at $\sim 2.3\, μ\mathrm{m}$ and specifically the $^{13}$CO bandhead at $2.37\, μ\mathrm{m}$, to synthetic spectra generated with MOOG. The observed spectra were obtained with GNIRS on Gemini North with a resolution of R $\approx 3500$. The carbon abundances derived from the IR spectra agree with previous [C/Fe] measureme…
There is an apparent dichotomy between the metal-poor ([Fe/H] <= -2) yet carbon-normal giants and their carbon-rich counterparts. The former undergo significant depletion of carbon on the red giant branch after they have undergone first dredge-up, whereas the latter do not appear to experience significant depletion. We investigate this in the context that the extra mixing occurs via the thermohaline instability that arises due to the burning of helium-3. We present the evolution of [C/Fe], [N/Fe] and carbon-12/carbon-13 for three models: a carbon-normal metal-poor star, and two stars that have…
Chandra LETG+HRC-S and XMM-Newton RGS spectra of H-like C and N formed in the corona of the lambda And primary star, a mildly metal-poor G8 III-IV first ascent giant that completed dredge-up ~50 Myr ago, have been used to make a precise measurement of its surface C/N ratio. We obtain the formal result [C/N]=0.03+/-0.07, which is typical of old disk giants and in agreement with standard dredge-up theory for stars of about 1 M_sun or lower. In contrast, these stars as a group, including lambda And, have 12C/13C ~< 20, which is much lower than standard model predictions. We show that the abundanc…
Fingering (thermohaline) convection has been invoked for several years as a possible extra-mixing which could occur in Red Giant stars due to the modification of the chemical composition induced by nuclear reactions in the hydrogen burning zone. Recent studies show however that this mixing is not sufficient to account for the needed surface abundances. A new prescription for fingering convection, based on 3D numerical simulations has recently been proposed (BGS). The resulting mixing coefficient is larger than the ones previously given in the literature. We compute models using this new coeffi…
Carbon isotope ratios, along with carbon and nitrogen abundances, are derived in a sample of 11 red-giant members of one of the most metal-rich clusters in the Milky Way, NGC 6791. The selected red-giants have a mean metallicity and standard deviation of [Fe/H]=+0.39+-0.06 (Cunha et al. 2015). We used high resolution H-band spectra obtained by the SDSS-IV Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE). The advantage of using high-resolution spectra in the H-band is that lines of CO are well represented and their line profiles are sensitive to the variation of 12C/13C. Values o…
We aim to constrain the mixing processes in low-mass stars by investigating the behaviour of the Li surface abundance after the main sequence. We take advantage of the data from the sixth internal data release of Gaia-ESO, idr6, and from the Gaia Early Data Release 3, edr3. We select a sample of main sequence, sub-giant, and giant stars in which Li abundance is measured by the Gaia-ESO survey, belonging to 57 open clusters with ages from 120~Myr to about 7 Gyr and to Milky Way fields, covering a range in [Fe/H] between -1.0 and +0.5dex. We study the behaviour of the Li abundances as a function…
An extensive spectroscopic study was carried out for the beryllium abundances of 200 red giants (mostly of late G and early K type), which were determined from the near-UV Be II 3131.066 line based on high-dispersion spectra obtained by Subaru/HDS, with an aim of investigating the nature of surface Be contents in these evolved giants; e.g., dependence upon stellar parameters, degree of peculiarity along with its origin and build-up timing. We found that Be is considerably deficient (to widely different degree from star to star) in the photosphere of these evolved giants by ~1-3 dex (or more) c…
HYDRA spectra of 287 stars in the field of NGC 2506 from the turnoff through the giant branch are analyzed. With previous data, 22 are identified as probable binaries; 90 more are classified as potential non-members. Spectroscopic analyses of ~60 red giants and slowly rotating turnoff stars using line equivalent widths and a neural network approach lead to [Fe/H] = -0.27 +/- 0.07 (s.d.) and [Fe/H] = -0.27 +/- 0.06 (s.d.), respectively. Li abundances are derived for 145 probable single-star members, 44 being upper limits. Among turnoff stars outside the Li-dip, A(Li) = 3.04 +/- 0.16 (s.d.), wit…
We present computations of nucleosynthesis in low-mass red-giant-branch and asymptotic-giant-branch stars of Population I experiencing extended mixing. We adopt the updated version of the FRANEC evolutionary model, a new post-process code for non-convective mixing and the most recent revisions for solar abundances. In this framework, we discuss the effects of recent improvements in relevant reaction rates for proton captures on intermediate-mass nuclei (from carbon to aluminum). For each nucleus we briefly discuss the new choices and their motivations. The calculations are then performed on th…
Barium stars are extrinsic Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars. They present the s-enhancement characteristic for AGB and post-AGB stars, but are in an earlier evolutionary stage (main sequence dwarfs, subgiants, red giants). They are believed to form in binary systems, where a more massive companion evolved faster, produced the s-elements during its AGB phase, polluted the present barium star through stellar winds and became a white dwarf. The samples of barium stars of Allen & Barbuy (2006) and of Smiljanic et al. (2007) are analysed here. Spectra of both samples were obtained at high-resolu…
Context: Determining carbon and nitrogen abundances in red giants provides useful diagnostics to test mixing processes in stellar atmospheres. Aims: Our main aim is to determine carbon-to-nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios for evolved giants in the open clusters Collinder 261 and Melotte 66 and to compare the results with predictions of theoretical models. Methods: High-resolution spectra were analysed using a differential model atmosphere method. Abundances of carbon were derived using the C_2 Swan (0,1) band head at 5635.5 A. The wavelength interval 7940-8130 A, which contains CN features, w…
We explore the detailed and broad properties of carbon burning in Super Asymptotic Giant Branch (SAGB) stars with 2755 MESA stellar evolution models. The location of first carbon ignition, quenching location of the carbon burning flames and flashes, angular frequency of the carbon core, and carbon core mass are studied as a function of the ZAMS mass, initial rotation rate, and mixing parameters such as convective overshoot, semiconvection, thermohaline and angular momentum transport. In general terms, we find these properties of carbon burning in SAGB models are not a strong function of the in…
Physical interpretation of the oscillation spectrum on the RGB and AGB
LIRA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité, CY Cergy Paris Université, CNRS(拉格朗日天体物理实验室,巴黎天文台,巴黎文理研究大学,索邦大学,巴黎西岱大学,塞吉-蓬图瓦兹大学,法国国家科学研究中心);School of Physics, University of New South Wales(新南威尔士大学物理学院);Univ Rennes, CNRS, IPR (Institut de Physique de Rennes) - UMR 6251(雷恩大学,法国国家科学研究中心,雷恩物理研究所)
The photospheres of low-mass red giants show CNO isotopic abundances that are not satisfactorily accounted for by canonical stellar models. The same is true for the measurements of these isotopes and of the $^{26}$Al/$^{27}$Al ratio in presolar grains of circumstellar origin. Non-convective mixing, occurring during both Red Giant Branch (RGB) and Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stages is the explanation commonly invoked to account for the above evidence. Recently, the need for such mixing phenomena on the AGB was questioned, and chemical anomalies usually attributed to them were suggested to be …
Double-diffusive convection has been well studied in geophysical contexts, but detailed investigations of the regimes characteristic of stellar or planetary interiors have only recently become feasible. Since most astrophysical fluids are electrically conducting, it is possible that magnetic fields play a role in either enhancing or suppressing double-diffusive convection, but to date there have been no numerical investigations of such possibilities. Here we study the effects of a vertical background magnetic field (aligned with the gravitational axis) on the linear stability and nonlinear sat…
Context. About 0.2-2% of giant stars are Li-rich, whose lithium abundance (A(Li)) is higher than 1.5 dex. Among them, near 6% are super Li-rich with A(Li) exceeding 3.2 dex. Meanwhile, the formation mechanism of these Li-rich and super Li-rich giants is still under debate. Aims. Considering the compact He core of red giants, attention is paid to the effect of element diffusion on A(Li). In particular, when the He core flash occurs, the element diffusion makes the thermohaline mixing zone extend inward and connect to the inner convection region of stars. Then, a large amount of 7Be produced by …
Weak G-band (WGB) stars are a rare class of cool luminous stars that present a strong depletion in carbon, but also lithium abundance anomalies that have been little explored in the literature since the first discovery of these peculiar objects in the early 50's. Here we focus on the Li-rich WGB stars and report on their evolutionary status. We explore different paths to propose a tentative explanation for the lithium anomaly. Using archive data, we derive the fundamental parameters of WGB (Teff, log g, log(L/Lsun)) using Hipparcos parallaxes and recent temperature scales. From the equivalent …
Since 7Li is easily destroyed in low temperatures, the surface lithium abundance decreases as stars evolve. This is supported by the lithium depletion observed in the atmosphere of most red giants. However, recent studies show that almost all of red clump stars have high lithium abundances A(Li)>-0.9, which are not predicted by the standard theory of the low-mass stellar evolution. In order to reconcile the discrepancy between the observations and the model, we consider additional energy loss channels which may come from physics beyond the Standard Model. A(Li) slightly increases near the tip …
Photospheric abundances of C, N, O, and Na were determined by applying the synthetic spectrum-fitting technique to 34 snap-shot high-dispersion spectra of 22 RR Lyr stars covering a metallicity range of -1.8 <[Fe/H] < 0.0, with an aim of investigating the mixing mechanism in the interior of low-mass giant stars by examining the abundance anomalies of these elements possibly affected by the evolution-induced dredge-up of nuclear burning products. Special attention was paid to check the recent theoretical stellar evolution simulations indicating the importance of thermohaline mixing in low-mass …
[abridged] Previous analyses of lithium abundances in main sequence and red giant stars have revealed the action of mixing mechanisms other than convection in stellar interiors. Beryllium abundances in stars with lithium abundance determinations can offer valuable complementary information on the nature of these mechanisms. Our aim is to derive beryllium abundances along the whole evolutionary sequence of an open cluster, IC 4651. These Be abundances are used together with previously determined Li abundances, in the same sample stars, to investigate the mixing mechanisms in a range of stellar …
The parameters and elemental abundances of atmospheres for ten thick-disk red giants was determined from high-resolution spectra by the method of model stellar atmospheres. The results of a comparative analysis of the [Na/Fe] abundances in the atmospheres of the investigated stars and thin disk red giants are presented. Sodium in the atmospheres of thick-disk red giants is shown to have no overabundances typical of thin-disk red giants.
The Kepler mission observed many thousands of red giants. The long time series, some as long as the mission itself, have allowed us to study red giants with unprecedented detail. Given that red giants are intrinsically luminous, and hence can be observed from very large distances, knowing the properties of red giants, in particular ages, is of immense value for studies of the formation and evolution of the Galaxy, an endeavor known as "Galactic archaeology". In this article we review what we have learned about red giants using asteroseismic data. We start with the properties of the power spect…
The first public release of long-cadence stellar photometric data collected by the NASA Kepler mission has now been made available. In this paper we characterise the red-giant (G-K) stars in this large sample in terms of their solar-like oscillations. We use published methods and well-known scaling relations in the analysis. Just over 70% of the red giants in the sample show detectable solar-like oscillations, and from these oscillations we are able to estimate the fundamental properties of the stars. This asteroseismic analysis reveals different populations: low-luminosity H-shell burning red…