The effect of convection on the process of carbon burning in a degenerate core

The results of a numerical investigation of the hydrostatic carbon burning in a degenerate carbon core withM=1.4M are presented. Convective heat transfer has been taken into account according to the mixing length formalism. It is shown that for small convection the effective (10^–3) computational results are in agreement with the assumption of a hydrostatic evolution of the core. At 10^–2 the burning times in successive mass zones become less than the hydrodynamic time for the core. In this case carbon burning starts with a rapidly propagating thermal instability. The connection between the convective and neutrino mechanisms of burning propagation is discussed.