Asteroseismic modelling of solar-type stars: A deeper look at the treatment of initial helium abundance

Abstract

Detailed understanding of stellar physics is essential towards a robust determination of stellar properties (e.g. radius, mass, and age). Among the vital input physics used in the modelling of solar-type stars which remain poorly constrained, is the initial helium abundance. To this end, when constructing stellar model grids, the initial helium abundance is estimated either (i) by using the semi-empirical helium-to-heavy element enrichment ratio, ($\Delta Y/\Delta Z$), anchored to the standard Big Bang Nucleosynthesis value or (ii) by setting the initial helium abundance as a free variable. Adopting 35 low-mass, solar-type stars with multi-year Kepler photometry from the asteroseismic "LEGACY" sample, we explore the systematic uncertainties on the inferred stellar parameters (i.e., radius, mass, and age) arising from the treatment of the initial helium abundance in stellar model grids . The stellar masses and radii derived from grids with free initial helium abundance are lower compared to those from grids based on a fixed $\Delta Y/\Delta Z$ ratio. We find the systematic uncertainties on mean density, radius, mass, and age arising from grids which employ a fixed value of $\Delta Y/\Delta Z$ and those with free initial helium abundance to be $\sim$ 0.9%, $\sim$ 2%, $\sim$ 5% and $\sim$ 29%, respectively. We report that the systematic uncertainties on the inferred masses and radii arising from the treatment of initial helium abundance in stellar grids lie within the expected accuracy limits of ESA's PLATO, although this is not the case for the age.

arXiv comment12 pages, 10 figures, and 6 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (73)

• The chemical composition of the Sun
• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Giant Planets, Oscillations, Rotation, and Massive Stars
• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Binaries, Pulsations, and Explosions
• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Convective Boundaries, Element Diffusion, and Massive Star Explosions
• Low Temperature Opacities
• The PLATO 2.0 Mission
• Element Diffusion in the Solar Interior
• Chemical abundances of 1111 FGK stars from the HARPS GTO planet search program.Galactic stellar populations and planets
• GYRE: An open-source stellar oscillation code based on a new Magnus Multiple Shooting Scheme
• Nominal values for selected solar and planetary quantities: IAU 2015 Resolution B3
• Ages and fundamental properties of Kepler exoplanet host stars from asteroseismology
• Up-dated opacities from the Opacity Project
• The APOKASC Catalog: An Asteroseismic and Spectroscopic Joint Survey of Targets in the Kepler Fields
• Correcting stellar oscillation frequencies for near-surface effects
• Standing on the shoulders of Dwarfs: the Kepler asteroseismic LEGACY sample II - radii, masses, and ages
• Primordial Nucleosynthesis in Light of WMAP
• A Revised Effective Temperature Scale for the Kepler Input Catalog
• Standing on the shoulders of Dwarfs: the $Kepler$ asteroseismic LEGACY sample I - oscillation mode parameters
• S-factor of 14N(p,gamma)15O at astrophysical energies
• A new correction of stellar oscillation frequencies for near-surface effects
• YREC: The Yale Rotating Stellar Evolution Code
• A uniform asteroseismic analysis of 22 solar-type stars observed by Kepler
• Asteroseismology for "à la carte" stellar age-dating and weighing: Age and mass of the CoRoT exoplanet host HD 52265
• Properties of 42 Solar-type Kepler Targets from the Asteroseismic Modeling Portal
• A precise asteroseismic age and radius for the evolved Sun-like star KIC 11026764
• Asymptotic and measured large frequency separations
• An in-depth study of grid-based asteroseismic analysis
• An asteroseismic signature of helium ionization
• Determination of stellar radii from asteroseismic Data
• The Metallicities of Stars With and Without Transiting Planets
• Determining stellar parameters of asteroseismic targets: going beyond the use of scaling relations
• Stroemgren survey for Asteroseismology and Galactic Archaeology: let the SAGA begin
• The Helium abundance and Delta Y / Delta Z in Lower Main Sequence stars
• AIMS - A new tool for stellar parameter determinations using asteroseismic constraints
• The cosmic production of Helium
• Measurement of acoustic glitches in solar-type stars from oscillation frequencies observed by Kepler
• Calibrating Convective properties of Solar-like Stars in the Kepler Field of View
• Surface-effect corrections for solar-like oscillations using 3D hydrodynamical simulations
• How Accurately Can We Calculate the Depth of the Solar Convective Zone?
• Evidence for a sharp structure variation inside a red-giant star
• Not All Stars Are the Sun: Empirical Calibration of the Mixing Length for Metal-Poor Stars Using One-dimensional Stellar Evolution Models
• OP data on CD for mean opacities and radiative accelerations
• The Chemical Evolution of Helium
• Determining the initial helium abundance of the Sun
• Helium abundance in a sample of cool stars: measurements from asteroseismology
• Measuring the Solar Radius from Space during the 2003 and 2006 Mercury Transits
• Impacts of radiative accelerations on solar-like oscillating main-sequence stars
• Asteroseismic estimate of helium abundance of a solar analog binary system
• Classically and Asteroseismically constrained 1D Stellar Evolution Models of $\alpha$ Centauri A and B using Empirical Mixing Length Calibrations
• Measuring mean densities of delta Scuti stars with asteroseismology. Theoretical properties of large separations using TOUCAN
• Seismic analysis of the second ionization region of helium in the Sun: I. Sensitivity study and methodology
• Asteroseismic modelling of solar-type stars: internal systematics from input physics and surface correction methods
• Uncertainties in grid-based estimates of stellar mass and radius. SCEPtER: Stellar CharactEristics Pisa Estimation gRid
• Surface-effect corrections for oscillation frequencies of evolved stars
• Stellar ages, masses and radii from asteroseismic modeling are robust to systematic errors in spectroscopy
• Seismic measurement of the locations of the base of convection zone and helium ionization zone for stars in the {\it Kepler} seismic LEGACY sample
• Prospects for asteroseismic inference on the envelope helium abundance in red giant stars
• Helium signature in red giant oscillation patterns observed by Kepler
• Generalized Stefan-Boltzmann law
• Asteroseismology of 36 Kepler subgiants -- II: Determining ages from detailed modelling
• Kepler Observations of the Asteroseismic Binary HD 176465
• Convective boundary mixing in low- and intermediate-mass stars I. Core properties from pressure-mode asteroseismology
• Investigating surface correction relations for RGB stars
• TESS Asteroseismic Analysis of the Known Exoplanet Host Star HD 222076
• The robustness of asteroseismic estimates of global stellar parameters to surface term corrections
• Asteroseismology of the exoplanet-host F-type star 94 Ceti : impact of atomic diffusion on the stellar parameters
• $\alpha$ Centauri A as a potential stellar model calibrator: establishing the nature of its core
• On using dipolar modes to constrain the helium glitch in red-giant stars
• He abundances in disc galaxies -- I. Predictions from cosmological chemodynamical simulations
• The mass and age of the first SONG target: the red giant 46 LMi
• Relevance of the small frequency separation for asteroseismic stellar age, mass, and radius. A statistical investigation for main-sequence low-mass stars
• On the nature of the core of $\alpha$ Centauri A: the impact of the metallicity mixture
• Asteroseismic modelling of the Binary HD 176465

Cited by in corpus (14)

• Probing the temperature gradient in the core boundary layer of stars with gravito-inertial modes: the case of KIC7760680
• gyre_tides: Modeling binary tides within the gyre stellar oscillation code
• Exoplanet Interior Retrievals: core masses and metallicities from atmospheric abundances
• Differential Modelling Systematics across the HR Diagram from Asteroseismic Surface Corrections
• Fundamental properties of a selected sample of Ap stars: Inferences from interferometric and asteroseismic constraints
• Mixed Modes and Asteroseismic Surface Effects: II. Subgiant Systematics
• Revisiting the mass- and radius-luminosity relations for FGK main-sequence stars
• Modelling stars with Gaussian Process Regression: Augmenting Stellar Model Grid
• Modeling of two CoRoT solar analogues constrained by seismic and spectroscopic analysis
• Asteroseismic Determination of Stellar Rotation: On Synchronization in the Close Eclipsing Binaries AB Cas and OO Dra
• The oldest Milky Way stars: New constraints on the age of the Universe and the Hubble constant
• Study with WhoSGlAd of the acoustic depth of the helium glitch across the seismic HR diagram and its impact on the inferred helium abundance
• On the stellar core physics of the 16 Cyg binary system: constraining the central hydrogen abundance using asteroseismology
• PLATO Hare-and-Hounds exercise: Asteroseismic model fitting of main-sequence solar-like pulsators