Thermohaline Convection in Stellar Interiors.
Abstract
A quantitative theory of mixing induced by an inverted gradient of mean molecular weight is presented. This theory is applied to three stellar problems, with the following results: (1) during 3He burning in a 2 Io star the change of X3 between the center and surface is 0.002; (2) the mechanism proposed by Stothers and Simon is too short-lived to explain the p Cephei variables, and (3) after the initial ignition of 4He burning in a degenerate shell flash, the 4He core and the C sbell mix on a time scale greater than too years. The theory is checked by comparison with the laboratory experiment by Stommel and Faller quoted by Stern. The agreement is satisfactory. An important uncertainty in the theory is the ratio of length to width of a moving finger of matter.
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Within the idealised one-dimensional theory of Ulrich (1972) and Kippenhahn et al. (1980), the value of C is related to the aspect ratio α of the assumed 'fingers' doing the mixing, with C = 8/3π^2 α^2.
“We have seen that within the formalism of the idealised one-dimensional theory of Ulrich (1972) and Kippenhahn et al. (1980), the value of C is related to the aspect ratio α of the assumed 'fingers' doing the mixing, with C = 8 / 3 π 2 α 2 .”
From The Dawes Review 2: Nucleosynthesis and Stellar Yields of Low- and Intermediate-Mass Single Stars (2014) · cites this paper as Ulrich (1972)
Kippenhahn et al. (1980) preferred the blob-like case with α ≈ 1 and C ≈ 20, whereas Ulrich (1972) preferred fingers with α ≈ 5 leading to C ≈ 700.
“This was the case preferred by Kippenhahn et al. (1980), in fact, whereas Ulrich (1972) preferred fingers with α ≈ 5 leading to C ≈ 700, much closer to the value of 1 000 that seems to fit so many constraints.”
From The Dawes Review 2: Nucleosynthesis and Stellar Yields of Low- and Intermediate-Mass Single Stars (2014) · cites this paper as Ulrich (1972)
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The Dawes Review 2: Nucleosynthesis and Stellar Yields of Low- and Intermediate-Mass Single Stars
Karakas, A. I., & Lattanzio, J. C. (2014) · Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia · doi:10.1017/pasa.2014.21 · Cited by 735 · see citing works
“We have seen that within the formalism of the idealized 1D theory of Ulrich (1972) and Kippenhahn et al. (1980), the value of C is related to the aspect ratio α of the assumed “fingers” doing the mixing, with C = 8/3π2α2.”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
- Authors
- Ulrich, R. K.
- Corresponding author
- Ulrich, Roger K.
- ORCID
- Ulrich, Roger K.
- Venue
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Publisher
- American Astronomical Society
- Published
- 1972-02
- Volume
- 172
- Pages
- 165
- ISSN
- 0004-637X (ISSN-L)
- 1538-4357
- OpenAlex
- W1989057418
- Cited by
- 218
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 7 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 1.07
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Astrophysical Journal (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
- Keywords
- double-diffusive convection, stellar interiors, mixing, helium burning, stellar convection
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