On thermonuclear convection: I shellular instability |
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Authors: | Sandip Ghosal Edward A Spiegel |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Physics , Columbia University , New York, N. Y., 10027;2. Department of Astronomy , Columbia University , New York, N.Y., 10027 |
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Abstract: | Abstract As the sun evolves, a sharp compositional peak of He 3 builds up in the core. Nuclear reactions involving He 3 are very temperature sensitive, as a result, this He 3 layer is susceptible to thermal instability. The small horizontal wavenumber g-modes have large time scales, comparable to the thermal time scale. Using a two-layer model, we find that such “shellular modes” are the most unstable. As a result of nuclear heating, these modes may be excited in the solar core in a shallow layer confined to the He 3 zone. A possible effect of such shellular convection on the solar neutrino problem is discussed. In this paper we discuss the linear theory; the nonlinear effects will be treated in a subsequent paper. |
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Keywords: | Thermal instability Convection g-modes Neutrino |
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