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One-dimensional stellar evolution calculations produce uncertain predictions for quantities like the age, core mass, core compactness, and nucleosynthetic yields; a key source of uncertainty is the modeling of interfaces between regions that are convectively stable and those that are not. Theoretical and numerical work has demonstrated that there should be numerous processes adjacent to the convective boundary that induce chemical and angular momentum transport, as well as modify the thermal structure of the star. One such process is called convective penetration, wherein vigorous convection extends beyond the nominal convective boundary and alters both the composition and thermal structure. In this work, we incorporate the process of convective penetration in stellar evolution calculations using the stellar evolution software instrumentmesa. We implement convective penetration according to the description presented by Anders et al. to to calculate a grid of models from the pre-main sequence to helium core depletion. The extent of the convective penetration zone is self-consistently calculated at each time step without introducing new free parameters. We find both a substantial penetration zone in all models with a convective core and observable differences to global stellar properties such as the luminosity and radius. We present how the predicted radial extent of the penetration zone scales with the total stellar mass, age, and metallicity of the star. We discuss our results in the context of existing numerical and observational studies.

 

Abstract 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 Sloan Digital Sky Survey-IV APOGEE survey as a probe of mixing and a fluid parameter known as the reduced density ratio from one-dimensional stellar evolution programs, we compare the observed amount of extra mixing on the upper giant branch to predicted trends from three-dimensional fluid dynamics simulations. Using this method, we are able to empirically constrain how mixing efficiency should vary with the reduced density ratio. We find the observed amount of extra mixing is strongly correlated with the reduced density ratio and that trends between reduced density ratio and fundamental stellar parameters are robust across choices for modeling prescription. We show that stars with available mixing data tend to have relatively low density ratios, which should inform the regimes selected for future simulation efforts. Finally, we show that there is increased mixing at low reduced density ratios, which is consistent with current hydrodynamical models of thermohaline mixing. The introduction of this framework sets a new standard for theoretical modeling efforts, as validation for not only the amount of extra mixing, but trends between the degree of extra mixing and fundamental stellar parameters is now possible. 

Massive stars die in catastrophic explosions that seed the interstellar medium with heavy elements and produce neutron stars and black holes. Predictions of the explosion’s character and the remnant mass depend on models of the star’s evolutionary history. Models of massive star interiors can be empirically constrained by asteroseismic observations of gravity wave oscillations. Recent photometric observations reveal a ubiquitous red noise signal on massive main sequence stars; a hypothesized source of this noise is gravity waves driven by core convection. We present three-dimensional simulations of massive star convection extending from the star’s centre to near its surface, with realistic stellar luminosities. Using these simulations, we predict the photometric variability due to convectively driven gravity waves at the surfaces of massive stars, and find that gravity waves produce photometric variability of a lower amplitude and lower characteristic frequency than the observed red noise. We infer that the photometric signal of gravity waves excited by core convection is below the noise limit of current observations, and thus the red noise must be generated by an alternative process.

 

Convection is ubiquitous in stars and occurs under many different conditions. Here we explore convection in main-sequence stars through two lenses: dimensionless parameters arising from stellar structure and parameters that emerge from the application of mixing length theory. We first define each quantity in terms familiar to both the 1D stellar evolution community and the hydrodynamics community. We then explore the variation of these quantities across different convection zones, different masses, and different stages of main-sequence evolution. We find immense diversity across stellar convection zones. Convection occurs in thin shells, deep envelopes, and nearly spherical cores; it can be efficient or inefficient, rotationally constrained or not, transsonic or deeply subsonic. This atlas serves as a guide for future theoretical and observational investigations by indicating which regimes of convection are active in a given star, and by describing appropriate model assumptions for numerical simulations.

 

Convection in massive main-sequence stars generates large-scale magnetic fields in their cores that persists as they evolve up the red giant branch. The remnants of these fields may take the form of the Prendergast magnetic field, a combination of poloidal and toroidal field components that are expected to stabilize each other. Previous analytic and numerical calculations did not find any evidence for instability of the Prendergast field over short time-scales. In this paper, we present numerical simulations which show a long time-scale, linear instability of this magnetic field. We find the instability to be robust to changes in boundary conditions and it is not stabilized by strong stable stratification. The instability is a resistive instability, and the growth rate has a power-law dependence on the resistivity, in which the growth rate decreases as the resistivity decreases. We estimate the growth rate of the instability in stars by extrapolating this power law to stellar values of the resistivity. The instability is sufficiently rapid to destabilize the magnetic field on time-scales shorter than the stellar evolution time-scale, indicating that the Prendergast field is not a good model to use in studies of magnetic fields in stars.

 

Observations indicate that the convective cores of stars must ingest a substantial amount of material from the overlying radiative zone, but the extent of this mixing and the mechanism that causes it remain uncertain. Recently, Anders et al. developed a theory of convective penetration and calibrated it with 3D numerical hydrodynamics simulations. Here we employ that theory to predict the extent of convective boundary mixing (CBM) in early-type main-sequence stars. We find that convective penetration produces enough mixing to explain core masses inferred from asteroseismology and eclipsing binary studies, and matches observed trends in mass and age. While there are remaining uncertainties in the theory, this agreement suggests that most CBM in early-type main-sequence stars arises from convective penetration. Finally, we provide a fitting formula for the extent of core convective penetration for main-sequence stars in the mass range from 1.1–60M_⊙.

 

Subsurface convection zones are ubiquitous in early-type stars. Driven by narrow opacity peaks, these thin convective regions transport little heat but play an important role in setting the magnetic properties and surface variability of stars. Here we demonstrate that these convection zones arenotpresent in as wide a range of stars as previously believed. In particular, there are regions which 1D stellar evolution models report to be convectively unstable but which fall below the critical Rayleigh number for onset of convection. For sub-solar metallicity this opens up astability windowin which there are no subsurface convection zones. For Large Magellanic Cloud metallicity this surface stability region extends roughly between 8 and 16M_⊙, increasing to 8–35M_⊙for Small Magellanic Cloud metallicity. Such windows are then an excellent target for probing the relative influence of subsurface convection and other sources of photometric variability in massive stars.

 

Convection is efficient when advection matters much more than thermal diffusion. Despite this conceptually simple definition, there are several different measures of convective efficiency which are not quite equivalent. Here we recall the definitions of these measures and examine how they are related in different limits.

 

Stellar evolution models calculate convective boundaries using either the Schwarzschild or Ledoux criterion, but confusion remains regarding which criterion to use. Here we present a 3D hydrodynamical simulation of a convection zone and adjacent radiative zone, including both thermal and compositional buoyancy forces. As expected, regions that are unstable according to the Ledoux criterion are convective. Initially, the radiative zone adjacent to the convection zone is Schwarzschild unstable but Ledoux stable due to a composition gradient. Over many convective overturn timescales, the convection zone grows via entrainment. The convection zone saturates at the size originally predicted by the Schwarzschild criterion, although in this final state the Schwarzschild and Ledoux criteria agree. Therefore, the Schwarzschild criterion should be used to determine the size of stellar convection zones, except possibly during short-lived evolutionary stages in which entrainment persists.