Deep Mixing of 3 He: Reconciling Big Bang and Stellar Nucleosynthesis
Open accessAbstract
Low-mass stars, approximately 1 to 2 solar masses, near the Main Sequence are efficient at producing the helium isotope 3He, which they mix into the convective envelope on the giant branch and should distribute into the Galaxy by way of envelope loss. This process is so efficient that it is difficult to reconcile the low observed cosmic abundance of 3He with the predictions of both stellar and Big Bang nucleosynthesis. Here we find, by modeling a red giant with a fully three-dimensional hydrodynamic code and a full nucleosynthetic network, that mixing arises in the supposedly stable and radiative zone between the hydrogen-burning shell and the base of the convective envelope. This mixing is due to Rayleigh-Taylor instability within a zone just above the hydrogen-burning shell, where a nuclear reaction lowers the mean molecular weight slightly. Thus, we are able to remove the threat that 3He production in low-mass stars poses to the Big Bang nucleosynthesis of 3He.
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The discovery by Eggleton, Dearborn, & Lattanzio (2006) is that thermohaline mixing may be the cause of the extra mixing required on the RGB.
“What is new is the discovery by Eggleton, Dearborn, & Lattanzio (2006) that it may be the cause of the extra mixing that is required on the RGB.”
From The Dawes Review 2: Nucleosynthesis and Stellar Yields of Low- and Intermediate-Mass Single Stars (2014) · cites this paper as Eggleton, Dearborn, & Lattanzio 2006
Eggleton et al. (2006) found that a μ inversion developed naturally during evolution along the RGB.
“The relevance of thermohaline mixing for our purposes follows from the work of Eggleton et al. (2006). They found that a μ inversion developed naturally during the evolution along the RGB.”
From The Dawes Review 2: Nucleosynthesis and Stellar Yields of Low- and Intermediate-Mass Single Stars (2014) · cites this paper as Eggleton et al. 2006
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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
“Eggleton et al. (2006, 2008) preferred to try to determine a mixing speed from first principles, and try to apply that in a phenomenological way.”
BackgroundResultInfluentialSelf-citation
- Authors
- Eggleton, P. P., Dearborn, D. S. P., & Lattanzio, J. C.
- Affiliations
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (US)
- Corresponding author
- Eggleton, Peter P.
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2006-12-08
- Volume
- 314
- Issue
- 5805
- Pages
- 1580-1583
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2056071095
- Cited by
- 226
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
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- FWCI
- 11.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- arxiv.org
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
- University of North Texas Digital Library (University of North Texas) (submittedVersion)
- CERN Document Server (European Organization for Nuclear Research) (submittedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Nuclear and High Energy Physics › Nuclear physics research studies
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics
- Keywords
- helium-3, deep mixing, low-mass stars, stellar nucleosynthesis, big bang nucleosynthesis, Rayleigh-Taylor instability, red giant branch, hydrogen-burning shell, average molecular weight, three-dimensional hydrodynamic model
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