An Atlas of Convection in Main-Sequence Stars

Abstract

Convection is ubiquitous in stars and occurs under many different conditions. Here we explore convection in main-sequence stars through two lenses: dimensionless parameters arising from stellar structure and parameters which emerge from the application of mixing length theory. We first define each quantity in terms familiar both to the 1D stellar evolution community and the hydrodynamics community. We then explore the variation of these quantities across different convection zones, different masses, and different stages of main-sequence evolution. We find immense diversity across stellar convection zones. Convection occurs in thin shells, deep envelopes, and nearly-spherical cores; it can be efficient of inefficient, rotationally constrained or not, transsonic or deeply subsonic. This atlas serves as a guide for future theoretical and observational investigations by indicating which regimes of convection are active in a given star, and by describing appropriate model assumptions for numerical simulations.

62 pages, 76 figures. All your favorite dimensionless numbers and then some. Submitted to ApJS

References in corpus (37)

• The NumPy array: a structure for efficient numerical computation
• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA)
• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Pulsating Variable Stars, Rotation, Convective Boundaries, and Energy Conservation
• Updated Electron-Conduction Opacities: The Impact on Low-Mass Stellar Models
• Persistent Magnetic Wreaths in a Rapidly Rotating Sun
• The Status of Multi-Dimensional Core-Collapse Supernova Models
• 3D Hydrodynamical Simulations of Surface Convection in Red Giant Stars. Impact on spectral line formation and abundance analysis
• Coulomb tunneling for fusion reactions in dense matter: Path integral Monte Carlo versus mean field
• On differential rotation and overshooting in solar-like stars
• Skye: A Differentiable Equation of State
• Asymptotic g modes: Evidence for a rapid rotation of the solar core
• On the Formation of Active Regions
• On the Magnetic Prandtl Number Behavior of Accretion Disks
• Three-Dimensional Simulations of Massive Stars: I. Wave Generation and Propagation
• On the Chemical Mixing Induced by Internal Gravity Waves (IGW)
• Powering Stellar Magnetism: Energy Transfers in Cyclic Dynamos of Sun-like Stars
• Solar rotation rate and its gradients during cycle 23
• The Emergence of Solar Supergranulation as a Natural Consequence of Rotationally-Constrained Interior Convection
• Numerical Simulations of Convective 3-Dimensional Red Supergiant Envelopes
• Convective Overshoot and Macroscopic Diffusion in Pure-Hydrogen Atmosphere White Dwarfs
• Magnetic cycles in a dynamo simulation of fully convective M-star Proxima Centauri
• Fully compressible simulations of waves and core convection in main-sequence stars
• On the Origin of Stochastic, Low-Frequency Photometric Variability in Massive Stars
• Low-frequency variability in massive stars: Core generation or surface phenomenon?
• From Hydrogen to Helium: The Spectral Evolution of White Dwarfs as Evidence for Convective Mixing
• Stellar convective penetration: parameterized theory and dynamical simulations
• Stochastic Low Frequency Variability in 3-Dimensional Radiation Hydrodynamical Models of Massive Star Envelopes
• Planet transit and stellar granulation detection with interferometry
• Magnetic inhibition of convection in O star envelopes
• The amplitude of solar p-mode oscillations from three-dimensional convection simulations
• On the dynamics of overshooting convection in spherical shells: Effect of density stratification and rotation
• A Critical Evaluation of Recent Claims Concerning Solar Rotation
• Non-Boussinesq convection at low Prandtl numbers relevant to the Sun
• A Transparent Window into Early-Type Stellar Variability
• Magnetic Archaeology of Early-Type Stellar Dynamos
• Five years of BRITE-Constellation photometry of the luminous blue variable P Cygni: properties of the stochastic low-frequency variability
• A Refined Model of Convectively-Driven Flicker in Kepler Light Curves

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Characterizing Observed Extra Mixing Trends in Red Giants using the Reduced Density Ratio from Thermohaline Models
• Theoretical investigation of the occurrence of tidally excited oscillations in massive eccentric binary systems
• The Influence of Disk Composition on the Evolution of Stars in the Disks of Active Galactic Nuclei