Solar-Type Stars with the Suppression of Convection at an Early Stage of Evolution

The evolution of a solar-mass star before and on the main sequence is analyzed in light of the diminished efficiency of convection in the first 500 Myr. A numerical simulation has been performed with the CESAM2k code. It is shown that the suppression of convection in the early stages of evolution leads to a somewhat higher lithium content than that predicted by the classical solar model. In addition, the star’s effective temperature decreases. Ignoring this phenomenon may lead to errors in age and mass determinations for young stars (before the main sequence) from standard evolutionary tracks in the temperature–luminosity diagram. At a later stage of evolution, after 500 Myr, the efficiency of convection tends to the solar value. At this stage, the star’s inner structure becomes classical; it does not depend on the previous history. On the contrary, the photospheric lithium abundance contains information about the star’s past. In other words, there may exist main-sequence solar-mass stars of the same age (above 500 Myr), radius, and luminosity, yet with different photospheric lithium contents. The main results of this work add considerably to the popular method for determining the age of solar-type stars from lithium abundances.

     

The diffusional evolution of chemical composition in a solar model

We consider the basic physical processes resulting in a differential, microscopic redistribution of stellar matter, generally known as diffusion. The main effect of diffusion in the solar interior is a segregation of light and heavy elements in the gravitational field. As a result, the abundance of helium and heavy elements in the solar envelope is reduced, while it becomes enriched by hydrogen. We present estimates of the degree of settling for a sequence of evolutionary models via numerical solution of the generalized diffusion equation. The effect of the ion charge (in the approximation of full ionization) on the settling rate is studied in detail. Abundance variations are given for the centers of the models, as well as for the convective envelope of the modern Sun. We analyze the effects of the thermal and concentrational diffusion on the evolution of the chemical-composition profile. Quantitatively, the effect of thermal diffusion is not very large, but it leads to the appearance of new features in the hydrogen-abundance profile, namely, a discontinuity at the base of the convective zone. The effect of concentration diffusion is relatively small, and is appreciable only at the model center at late stages of the evolution, and also close to the base of the convective envelope. All the mechanisms studied are necessary components of a modern model for the internal structure and evolution of the Sun.     

Low heavy-element photospheric abundance: a challenge for solar modeling

Recent spectroscopic data pointing to low heavy-element abundances Z pose a severe problem for solar-structure modeling. The low-Z abundances imply a lower opacity and a relatively shallow convective zone, both of which are in obvious contradiction with the observed helioseismic sound-speed profile. This paper presents a series of solar models with different heavy-element abundances. The SAHA-S equation of state and OPAL opacities properly take into account the respective heavy-element abundances. Diffusion of individual elements is also included in the models. Sound-speed profiles are compared with inversion results and it is shown that the models with low Z are in disagreement with the inversion data. Even combining the effect of diffusion, overshooting and mixing for the sound-speed profile did not lead to a solution of the low-Z problem. Models with varied neon abundance have also been computed. It turned out that a substantial increase of the neon abundance could produce a model in agreement with the sound-speed inversion but the required abundance increase would be unrealistic. The effect of the neon enhancement on the adiabatic exponent profile in the convection zone is also presented.     

Helioseismic models of the sun with a low heavy element abundance

Helioseismology and neutrino experiments probing the internal structure of the Sun have yieldedmuch information, such as the adiabatic elasticity index, density, and sound speed in the convective and radiative zones, the depth of the convective zone, and the flux of neutrinos from the core. The standard model of the Sun does not adequately reproduce these characteristics, with models with low heavy element contents (mass fraction of metals Z = 0.013 in the convective zone) deviating from the helioseismic data appreciably more strongly than models with high heavy element contents (Z = 0.018). However, a spectroscopic low Z value is supported by studies reconstructing the Γ ₁ profile in the adiabatic part of the convective zone based on the oscillation frequencies. Models of the convective zone show a good agreement precisely for low Z values. This study attempts to construct a model for the Sun with low Z that satisfies the helioseismic constraints. This model requires changes in the p + p reaction cross section and the opacities in the radiative zone. In our view, the helioseismic result for the mass concentrated in the convective zone testifies that the p + p reaction cross section or the electron-screening coefficient in the solar core must be increased by several percent over the current values. This requires a comparatively small correction to the opacities (by less than 5%), in order to obtain a solar model with low Z that is in agreement with the results of helioseismology and the observed solar neutrino fluxes.