DOUBLE-DIFFUSIVE MIXING IN STELLAR INTERIORS IN THE PRESENCE OF HORIZONTAL GRADIENTS
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Baskin School of Engineering, University of California Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 (United States)
- Institut für Geophysik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Münster D-48149 (Germany)
We have identified a potentially important source of mixing in stellar radiation zones which would arise whenever two conditions are satisfied: (1) the presence of an inverse vertical compositional gradient, and (2) the presence of density-compensating horizontal gradients of temperature and composition. The former can be caused by off-center nuclear burning, atomic diffusion, or surface accretion. The latter could be caused by rotation, tides, meridional flows, etc. The linear instability and its nonlinear development have been studied in an oceanographic context. It is known to drive the formation of stacks of fingering layers separated by diffusive interfaces, called intrusions. Using three-dimensional numerical simulations of the process in the astrophysically relevant region of parameter space, we find similar results and demonstrate that the material transport in the intrusive regime can be highly enhanced compared with pure diffusion, even in systems which would otherwise be stable to fingering (thermohaline) convection.
- OSTI ID:
- 22365096
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 792, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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