ASPCS
 
Back to Volume
Paper: Angular Momentum Transport in Magnetized Stellar Radiative Zones: The Solar Light Element Abundances
Volume: 154, Cool Stars, Stellar Systems and the Sun: Tenth Cambridge Workshop
Page: 886
Authors: Barnes, G.; Charbonneau, P.; MacGregor, K. B.
Abstract: We calculate the depletion of the trace elements lithium and beryllium within a solar mass star, during the course of its evolution from the zero-age main sequence to the age of the present-day Sun. In the radiative layers beneath the convection zone, we assume that these elements are transported by the turbulent fluid motions that result from the instability of the shear flow associated with internal differential rotation. This turbulent mixing is modeled as a diffusive process, using a diffusion coefficient that is taken to be proportional to the gradient of the angular velocity distribution inside the star. We study the evolution of the light element abundances produced by rotational mixing for models in which internal angular momentum redistribution takes place either by hydrodynamic or by hydromagnetic means. Since models based on these alternative mechanisms for angular momentum transport predict similar surface rotation rates late in the evolution, we explore the extent to which light element abundances make it possible to distinguish between them. In the case of an internally magnetized star, our computations indicate that both the details of the surface abundance evolution and the magnitude of the depletion at solar age can depend sensitively on the assumed strength and configuration of the poloidal magnetic field inside the star. For a configuration with no direct magnetic coupling between the radiative and convective portions of the stellar interior, the depletion of lithium as a function of age is similar to that of a model in which angular momentum transport occurs solely by hydrodynamical processes. However, the two models can be distinguished on the basis of their respective beryllium depletions, with the depletion of the magnetic model being significantly smaller than that of the non-magnetic model.
Back to Volume