Examining the Relationship Between Convective Core Overshoot and Stellar Properties Using Asteroseismology

Abstract

Core overshoot is a large source of uncertainty in constructing stellar models. Whether the amount of overshoot is constant or mass dependent is not completely known, even though models sometimes assume a mass-based trend. In this work we use asteroseismic data from stars observed by \textit{Kepler} to investigate the relationship between various stellar properties and the amount of overshoot needed to properly model a given star. We find a strong positive trend between stellar mass and overshoot amount for stars between 1.1 and 1.5 $M_{\odot }$, with a slope of 0.89. Additionally, we investigate how inferred stellar properties change as a function of overshoot. Our model grids show that the inferred stellar mass and radius can vary by as much as 14\% and 6\% respectively, depending on the extent of overshoot. This mass spread results in a commensurate spread in the ages.

19 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ