Deep Mixing of He-3: Reconciling Big Bang and Stellar Nucleosynthesis

Abstract

Low-mass stars, ~1-2 solar masses, near the Main Sequence are efficient at producing He-3, which they mix into the convective envelope on the giant branch and should distribute into the Galaxy by way of envelope loss. This process is so efficient that it is difficult to reconcile the low observed cosmic abundance of He-3 with the predictions of both stellar and Big Bang nucleosynthesis. In this paper we find, by modeling a red giant with a fully three-dimensional hydrodynamic code and a full nucleosynthetic network, that mixing arises in the supposedly stable and radiative zone between the hydrogen-burning shell and the base of the convective envelope. This mixing is due to Rayleigh-Taylor instability within a zone just above the hydrogen-burning shell, where a nuclear reaction lowers the mean molecular weight slightly. Thus we are able to remove the threat that He-3 production in low-mass stars poses to the Big Bang nucleosynthesis of He-3.

Accepted by Science, and available from Science Express online

References in corpus (5)

• Approximate input physics for stellar modelling
• Big Bang Nucleosynthesis in Crisis?
• 3D Numerical Experimentation on the Core Helium Flash of low-mass Red Giants
• Galactic Evolution Of D And 3He Including Stellar Production Of 3He
• What's The Problem With ^3He?

Cited by in corpus (136)

• MESA Isochrones and Stellar Tracks (MIST). I: Solar-Scaled Models
• The Dawes Review 2: Nucleosynthesis and stellar yields of low and intermediate-mass single stars
• Primordial Nucleosynthesis: from precision cosmology to fundamental physics
• Thermohaline mixing: A physical mechanism governing the photospheric composition of low-mass giants
• Stellar Models and Yields of Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars
• Thermohaline instability and rotation-induced mixing. III - Grid of stellar models and asymptotic asteroseismic quantities from the pre-main sequence up to the AGB for low- and intermediate-mass stars at various metallicities
• Thermohaline instability and rotation-induced mixing. I - Low- and intermediate-mass solar metallicity stars up to the end of the AGB
• The s-Process in Low Metallicity Stars. II. Interpretation of High-Resolution Spectroscopic Observations with AGB models
• Aluminum-, Calcium- And Titanium-Rich Oxide Stardust In Ordinary Chondrite Meteorites
• Giant star seismology
• Can Extra Mixing in RGB and AGB Stars Be Attributed to Magnetic Mechanisms?
• Modelling the binary progenitor of supernova 1993J
• s-Process in Low Metallicity Stars. I. Theoretical Predictions
• Deep Mixing in Evolved Stars: I. The Effect of Reaction Rate Revisions from C to Al
• Chemical Transport and Spontaneous Layer Formation in Fingering Convection in Astrophysics
• Observable Signatures of Planet Accretion in Red Giant Stars I: Rapid Rotation and Light Element Replenishment
• The Stellar Abundances for Galactic Archaeology (SAGA) Database II - Implications for Mixing and Nucleosynthesis in Extremely Metal-Poor Stars and Chemical Enrichment of the Galaxy
• Nucleosynthesis Predictions for Intermediate-Mass AGB Stars: Comparison to Observations of Type I Planetary Nebulae
• Numerical Simulations of Thermohaline Convection: Implications for Extra-Mixing in Low-Mass RGB Stars
• Solar structure and evolution
• CNONa and 12C/13C in giants of 10 open clusters
• A model for the Globular Cluster extreme anomalies
• Thermohaline mixing and gravitational settling in carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars
• Metal-rich accretion and thermohaline instabilities in exoplanets-host stars: consequences on the light elements abundances
• On Lithium-Rich Red Giants. I. Engulfment of Sub-Stellar Companions
• Magnetic Mixing in Red Giant and Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars
• Origin of Abundance Inhomogeneity in Globular Clusters
• 3D hydrodynamical simulations of a proton ingestion episode in a low-metallicity asymptotic giant branch star
• Thermohaline mixing in evolved low-mass stars
• Chemical Abundances of Main-Sequence, Turnoff, Subgiant and red giant Stars from APOGEE spectra II: Atomic Diffusion in M67 Stars
• Magneto-Thermohaline Mixing in Red Giants
• Is Extra Mixing Really Needed in Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars?
• The lowest detected stellar Fe abundance: The halo star SMSS J160540.18-144323.1
• Thermohaline Mixing: Does It Really Govern the Atmospheric Chemical Composition of Low-Mass Red Giants?
• Automated NanoSIMS Measurements of Spinel Stardust from the Murray Meteorite
• Carbon in Red Giants in Globular Clusters and Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies
• On the Numerical Treatment and Dependence of Thermohaline Mixing in Red Giants
• The depletion of carbon by extra mixing in metal-poor giants
• On the Need for Deep Mixing in AGB Stars of Low Mass
• Present bounds on the relativistic energy density in the Universe from cosmological observables
• The effects of thermohaline mixing on low-metallicity asymptotic giant branch stars
• MHD and deep mixing in evolved stars. 1. 2D and 3D analytical models for the AGB
• The primordial and evolutionary abundance variations in globular-cluster stars: a problem with two unknowns
• Deep Mixing in Evolved Stars. II. Interpreting Li Abundances in RGB and AGB Stars
• Population synthesis to constrain Galactic and Stellar Physics- I- Determining age and mass of thin-disc red-giant stars
• Inhibition of thermohaline mixing by a magnetic field in Ap star descendants: Implications for the Galactic evolution of 3He
• The Role of Thermohaline Mixing in Intermediate- and Low-Metallicity Globular Clusters
• The Gaia-ESO Survey: CNO abundances in the open clusters Trumpler 20, NGC 4815, and NGC 6705
• The Hobby-Eberly Telescope "Chemical Abundances of Stars in the Halo" (CASH) Project. I. The Lithium-, s-, and r-Enhanced Metal-Poor Giant HKII 17435-00532
• Carbon and oxygen isotopic ratios in Arcturus and Aldebaran: Constraining the parameters for non convective mixing on the RGB
• Thermohaline instability and rotation-induced mixing II- Yields of 3He for low- and intermediate-mass stars
• Thermohaline mixing and the photospheric composition of low-mass giant stars
• Lithium abundances in globular cluster giants: NGC 1904, NGC 2808, and NGC 362
• Thermohaline Mixing and its Role in the Evolution of Carbon and Nitrogen Abundances in Globular Cluster Red Giants: The Test Case of Messier 3
• s-Processing in AGB Stars Revisited. III. Neutron captures from MHD mixing at different metallicities and observational constraints
• The Super Lithium-Rich Red Giant Rapid Rotator G0928+73.2600: A Case for Planet Accretion?
• Excitation of gravity waves by fingering convection, and the formation of compositional staircases in stellar interiors
• Lithium abundances in red giants of M4: evidence for asymptotic giant branch star pollution in globular clusters?
• Light Elements in the Universe
• Rayleigh-Taylor instability in partially ionized compressible plasmas: one fluid approach
• Presolar grain isotopic ratios as constraints to nuclear and stellar parameters of AGB nucleosynthesis
• C, N, O abundances and carbon isotope ratios in evolved stars of the open clusters Collinder 261 and NGC 6253
• 3He-Driven Mixing in Low-Mass Red Giants: Convective Instability in Radiative and Adiabatic Limits
• Chemical Abundances for Evolved Stars in M5: Lithium through Thorium
• On the Origin of the Early Solar System Radioactivities. Problems with the AGB and Massive Star Scenarios
• Light element abundances in carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars
• Models of red giants in the CoRoT asteroseismology fields combining asteroseismic and spectroscopic constraints
• The path to metallicity: synthesis of CNO elements in standard BBN
• The puzzle of the CNO isotope ratios in AGB carbon stars
• Chemical composition of evolved stars in the open cluster IC 4651
• Effects of thermohaline instability and rotation-induced mixing on the evolution of light elements in the Galaxy : D, 3He and 4He
• The Impact of Carbon Enhancement on Extra Mixing in Metal-Poor Stars
• Introduction to Big Bang Nucleosynthesis and Modern Cosmology
• TAPAS - Tracking Advanced Planetary Systems with HARPS-N. II. Super Li-rich giant HD 107028
• Chemical analysis of CH stars - I: atmospheric parameters and elemental abundances
• C, N and O abundances in red clump stars of the Milky Way
• Chemical analysis of CH stars - III: Atmospheric parameters and elemental abundances
• Nucleosynthesis of light element isotopes in evolved stars experiencing extended mixing
• A phenomenological modification of thermohaline mixing in globular cluster red giants
• Fingering Convection in Red Giants Revisited
• Chemical Mixing Induced by Internal Gravity Waves in Intermediate Mass Stars
• s-Processing from MHD-induced mixing and isotopic abundances in presolar SiC grains
• Low-mass lithium-rich AGB stars in the Galactic bulge: evidence for Cool Bottom Processing?
• Red clump stars of the Milky Way - laboratories of extra-mixing
• Time Dependent Quark Masses and Big Bang Nucleosynthesis Revisited
• Reaction rate uncertainties and 26Al in AGB silicon carbide stardust
• The extent of mixing in stellar interiors: the open clusters Collinder 261 and Melotte 66
• Extra-Mixing in Luminous Cool Red Giants. Hints from Evolved Stars with and without Li
• A Deep Mixing Solution to the Aluminum and Oxygen Isotope Puzzles in Presolar Grains
• Correlation between technetium and lithium in a sample of oxygen-rich AGB variables
• Spectroscopic study of two new super Li rich red clump K giants
• Neutron-capture element abundances in the planetary nebula NGC 5315 from deep optical and near-infrared spectrophotometry
• Symmetry and conservation principles of evolution of general Rayleigh-Taylor mixing fronts
• 3D hydrodynamics simulations of internal gravity waves in red giant branch stars
• Is Thermohaline Mixing the Full Story? Evidence for Separate Mixing Events near the Red Giant Branch Bump
• New Post-AGB star models as tools to understand AGB evolution and nucleosynthesis
• High-resolution spectroscopic analysis of a large sample of Li-rich giants found by LAMOST
• CNO abundances and carbon isotope ratios in evolved stars of the open clusters NGC 2324, NGC 2477, and NGC 3960
• Green Bank Telescope Observations of 3He+: HII Regions
• Stellar population synthesis of post-AGB stars: the s-process in MACHO47.2496.8
• Chemical composition of evolved stars in the young open clusters NGC 4609 and NGC 5316
• Star Cluster Ages in the Gaia Era
• Light Element Abundances and Multiple Populations in M10
• Characterizing Observed Extra Mixing Trends in Red Giants using the Reduced Density Ratio from Thermohaline Models
• Li-rich Giants in LAMOST Survey. III. The statistical analysis of Li-rich giants
• Gaia-ESO Survey: Detailed elemental abundances in red giants of the peculiar globular cluster NGC 1851
• Presupernova Structure of Massive Stars
• Uncertainties in AGB Evolution and Nucleosynthesis
• First Detection of ${}^3$He${}^{+}$ in the Planetary Nebula IC418
• Thermohaline mixing in extremely metal-poor stars
• Identifying Multiple Populations in M71 Using CN
• Rotational mixing in carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars with s-process enrichment
• Close to the Dredge: Precise X-ray C and N Abundances in lambda Andromeda and its Precocious RGB Mixing Problem
• Period Change Rates of Large Magellanic Cloud Cepheids using MESA
• Thermohaline mixing in low-mass giants
• A combined study of thermohaline mixing and envelope overshooting with PARSEC: Calibration to NGC 6397 and M4
• Presolar grains
• Chemical evolution of star clusters
• Carbon Isotope Ratios in M10 Giants
• Characterising the AGB bump and its potential to constrain mixing processes in stellar interiors
• Do All Low-Mass Stars Undergo Extra Mixing Processes?
• Uncertainties in models of stellar structure and evolution
• Carbon Abundance Inhomogeneities and Deep Mixing Rates in Galactic Globular Clusters
• 3He: Does the problem persists?
• The stratified evolution of a cool star
• A Small Step on the Long Road to Understanding the R-Stars: CNO Cycling in Candidate R-Star Progenitors
• B2FH, the Cosmic Microwave Background and Cosmology
• Light Element Abundances and Multiple Populations in M53
• Abundances of neutron-capture elements in CH and Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor (CEMP) stars
• Effects of rotation and thermohaline mixing in red giant stars
• The Early Solar System - Chapter 6
• Production of n-rich nuclei in red giant stars
• Physical interpretation of the oscillation spectrum on the RGB and AGB
• ${}^3$He Abundances in Planetary Nebulae
• Chemical element transport in stellar evolution models
• Oxygen and Aluminum-Magnesium Isotopic Systematics of Presolar Nanospinel Grains from CI Chondrite Orgueil