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Paper: Anomalous Abundances in Red Giants: The Li-Rich Stars
Volume: 336, COSMIC ABUNDANCES as Records of Stellar Evolution and Nucleosynthesis in honor of David L. Lambert
Page: 113
Authors: Balachandran, S.C.
Abstract: The anomalously high Li abundances in a small number of red giant stars have aroused much interest over the last two decades. The three possible causes for the high Li, preservation, accretion or synthesis, have all been discussed; the consensus now is that 7Li must have been freshly synthesized in these stars. Luminosity determinations from Hipparcos parallaxes allowed the stars to be placed accurately on the HR diagram and revealed that Li production occurred at the luminosity bump of the red giant branch. The removal of the mean molecular weight gradient allows models that use rotation-induced mixing to rapidly transport the synthesis product, 7Be, quickly to the surface via a Li- flash process. This is the most promising explanation to date.
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