Published in

Oxford University Press (OUP), Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, p. stw858

DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stw858

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Theory of stellar convection II: first stellar models

Journal article published in 2015 by S. Pasetto ORCID, C. Chiosi, E. Chiosi, M. Cropper ORCID, A. Weiss
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Postprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

We present here the first stellar models on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, in which convection is treated according to the new scale-free convection theory (SFC theory) by Pasetto et al. The aim is to compare the results of the new theory with those from the classical, calibrated mixing-length (ML) theory to examine differences and similarities. We integrate the equations describing the structure of the atmosphere from the stellar surface down to a few per cent of the stellar mass using both ML theory and SFC theory. The key temperature over pressure gradients, the energy fluxes, and the extension of the convective zones are compared in both theories. The analysis is first made for the Sun and then extended to other stars of different mass and evolutionary stage. The results are adequate: The SFC theory yields convective zones, temperature gradients ∇ and ∇e, and energy fluxes that are very similar to those derived from the 'calibrated' MT theory for main-sequence stars. We conclude that the old scale dependent ML theory can now be replaced with a self-consistent scale-free theory able to predict correct results, as it is more physically grounded than the ML theory. Fundamentally, the SFC theory offers a deeper insight of the underlying physics than numerical simulations.