Shell Carbon Burning Research Articles

The effect of 12C +12C rate uncertainties on the evolution and nucleosynthesis of massive stars

[Shortened] The 12C + 12C fusion reaction has been the subject of considerable experimental efforts to constrain uncertainties at temperatures relevant for stellar nucleosynthesis. In order to investigate the effect of an enhanced carbon burning rate on massive star structure and nucleosynthesis, new stellar evolution models and their yields are presented exploring the impact of three different 12C + 12C reaction rates. Non-rotating stellar models were generated using the Geneva Stellar Evolution Code and were later post-processed with the NuGrid Multi-zone Post-Processing Network tool. The enhanced rate causes core carbon burning to be ignited more promptly and at lower temperature. This reduces the neutrino losses, which increases the core carbon burning lifetime. An increased carbon burning rate also increases the upper initial mass limit for which a star exhibits a convective carbon core. Carbon shell burning is also affected, with fewer convective-shell episodes and convection zones that tend to be larger in mass. Consequently, the chance of an overlap between the ashes of carbon core burning and the following carbon shell convection zones is increased, which can cause a portion of the ashes of carbon core burning to be included in the carbon shell. Therefore, during the supernova explosion, the ejecta will be enriched by s-process nuclides synthesized from the carbon core s process. The yields were used to estimate the weak s-process component in order to compare with the solar system abundance distribution. The enhanced rate models were found to produce a significant proportion of Kr, Sr, Y, Zr, Mo, Ru, Pd and Cd in the weak component, which is primarily the signature of the carbon-core s process. Consequently, it is shown that the production of isotopes in the Kr-Sr region can be used to constrain the 12C + 12C rate using the current branching ratio for a- and p-exit channels.

Type Ia Supernova Models and Progenitor Scenarios

AbstractWe review some recent developments in theoretical studies on the connection between the progenitor systems of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) and the explosion mechanisms. (1)DD-subCh: In the merging of double C+O white dwarfs (DD scenario), if the carbon detonation is induced near the white dwarf (WD) surface in the early dynamical phase, it could result in the (effectively) sub-Chandrasekhar mass explosion. (2)DD-Ch: If no surface C-detonation is ignited, the WD could grow until the Chandrasekhar mass is reached, but the outcome depends on whether the quiescent carbon shell burning is ignited and burns C+O into O+Ne+Mg. (3)SD-subCh: In the single degenerate (SD) scenario, if the He shell-flashes grow strong to induce a He detonation, it leads to the sub-Chandra explosion. (4)SD-Ch: If the He-shell flashes are not strong enough, they still produce interesting amounts of Si and S near the surface of the C+O WD before the explosion. In the Chandra mass explosion, the central density is high enough to produce electron capture elements, e.g., stable58Ni. Observations of the emission lines of Ni in the nebular spectra provides useful diagnostics of the sub-Chandra vs. Chandra issue. The recent observations of relatively low velocity carbon near the surface of SNe Ia provide also an interesting constraint on the explosion models.

THE EFFECTS OF THERMONUCLEAR REACTION RATE VARIATIONS ON 26 Al PRODUCTION IN MASSIVE STARS: A SENSITIVITY STUDY

We investigate the effects of thermonuclear reaction rate variations on 26Al production in massive stars. The dominant production sites in such events were recently investigated by using stellar model calculations: explosive neon-carbon burning, convective shell carbon burning, and convective core hydrogen burning. Post-processing nucleosynthesis calculations are performed for each of these sites by adopting temperature-density-time profiles from recent stellar evolution models. For each profile, we individually multiplied the rates of all relevant reactions by factors of 10, 2, 0.5 and 0.1, and analyzed the resulting abundance changes of 26Al. Our simulations are based on a next-generation nuclear physics library, called STARLIB, which contains a recent evaluation of Monte Carlo reaction rates. Particular attention is paid to quantifying the rate uncertainties of those reactions that most sensitively influence 26Al production. For stellar modelers our results indicate to what degree predictions of 26Al nucleosynthesis depend on currently uncertain nuclear physics input, while for nuclear experimentalists our results represent a guide for future measurements. We tabulate the results of our reaction rate sensitivity study for each of the three distinct massive star sites referred to above. It is found that several current reaction rate uncertainties influence the production of 26Al. Particularly important reactions are 26Al(n,p)26Mg, 25Mg(alpha,n)28Si, 24Mg(n,gamma)25Mg and 23Na(alpha,p)26Mg. These reactions should be prime targets for future measurements. Overall, we estimate that the nuclear physics uncertainty of the 26Al yield predicted by the massive star models explored here amounts to about a factor of 3.

S‐Process Nucleosynthesis in Advanced Burning Phases of Massive Stars

We present a detailed study of s-process nucleosynthesis in massive stars of solar-like initial composition and masses 15, 20, 25, and 30 M☉. We update our previous results of s-process nucleosynthesis during the core He burning of these stars and then focus on an analysis of the s-process under the physical conditions encountered during the shell carbon burning. We show that the recent compilation of the 22Ne(α,n)25Mg rate leads to a remarkable reduction of the efficiency of the s-process during core He burning. In particular, this rate leads to the lowest overproduction factor of 80Kr found to date during core He burning in massive stars. The s-process yields resulting from shell carbon burning turn out to be very sensitive to the structural evolution of the carbon shell. This structure is influenced by the mass fraction of 12C attained at the end of core helium burning, which in turn is mainly determined by the 12C(α,γ)16O reaction. The still-present uncertainty in the rate for this reaction implies that the s-process in massive stars is also subject to this uncertainty. We identify some isotopes like 70Zn and 87Rb as the signatures of the s-process during shell carbon burning in massive stars. In determining the relative contribution of our s-only stellar yields to the solar abundances, we find it is important to take into account the neutron exposure of shell carbon burning. When we analyze our yields with a Salpeter initial mass function, we find that massive stars contribute at least 40% to s-only nuclei with mass A ≤ 87. For s-only nuclei with mass A > 90, massive stars contribute on average ~7%, except for 152Gd, 187Os, and 198Hg, which contribute ~14%, ~13%, and ~11%, respectively.

Active Carbon and Oxygen Shell Burning Hydrodynamics

We have simulated 2.5$\times10^3$ s of the late evolution of a $23 \rm M_\odot$ star with full hydrodynamic behavior. We present the first simulations of a multiple-shell burning epoch, including the concurrent evolution and interaction of an oxygen and carbon burning shell. In addition, we have evolved a 3D model of the oxygen burning shell to sufficiently long times (300 s) to begin to assess the adequacy of the 2D approximation. We summarize striking new results: (1) strong interactions occur between active carbon and oxygen burning shells, (2) hydrodynamic wave motions in nonconvective regions, generated at the convective-radiative boundaries, are energetically important in both 2D and 3D with important consequences for compositional mixing, and (3) a spectrum of mixed p- and g-modes are unambiguously identified with corresponding adiabatic waves in these computational domains. We find that 2D convective motions are exaggerated relative to 3D because of vortex instability in 3D. We discuss the implications for supernova progenitor evolution and symmetry breaking in core collapse.

Neutron sources during shell C-burning in massive stars

We present a study of the s–process nucleosynthesis (weak s-process) occurring during convective core He–burning and convective shell Carbon–burning in a massive star of 25 M. We use an updated nuclear network for the various neutron sources and for all neutron captures and β-decay rates involved. Large uncertainties affect the final yields due to the present unsatisfactory knowledge of all neutron capture cross sections involved.

Pulsations of massive ZZ Ceti stars with carbon/oxygen and oxygen/neon cores

We explore the adiabatic pulsational properties of massive white dwarf stars with hydrogen-rich envelopes and oxygen/neon and carbon/oxygen cores. To this end, we compute the cooling of massive white dwarf models for both core compositions taking into account the evolutionary history of the progenitor stars and the chemical evolution caused by time-dependent element diffusion. In particular, for the oxygen/neon models we adopt the chemical profile resulting from repeated carbon-burning shell flashes expected in very massive white dwarf progenitors. For carbon/oxygen white dwarfs we consider the chemical profiles resulting from phase separation upon crystallization. For both compositions we also take into account the effects of crystallization on the oscillation eigenmodes. We find that the pulsational properties of oxygen/neon white dwarfs are noticeably different from those made of carbon/oxygen, thus making asteroseismological techniques a promising way to distinguish between the two types of stars and, hence, to obtain valuable information about their progenitors.

Evolution of Massive Stars Up to the End of Central Oxygen Burning

We present a detailed study of the evolution of massive stars of masses 15, 20, 25, and 30 M☉ assuming solar-like initial chemical composition. The stellar sequences were evolved through the advanced burning phases up to the end of core oxygen burning. We present a careful analysis of the physical characteristics of the stellar models. In particular, we investigate the effect of the still-unsettled reaction 12C(α,γ)16O on the advanced evolution by using recent compilations of this rate. We find that this rate has a significant impact on the evolution not only during the core helium burning phase but also during the late burning phases, especially the shell carbon burning. We have also considered the effect of different treatments of convective instability based on the Ledoux criterion in regions of varying molecular weight gradient during the hydrogen- and helium-burning phases. We compare our results with other investigations whenever available. Finally, our present study constitutes the basis of analyzing the nucleosynthesis processes in massive stars. In particular, we will present a detailed analysis of the s-process in a forthcoming paper.

A New Study ofs‐Process Nucleosynthesis in Massive Stars

We present a comprehensive study of s-process nucleosynthesis in 15, 20, 25, and 30 M☉ stellar models having solar-like initial composition. The stars are evolved up to ignition of central neon with a 659 species network coupled to the stellar models. In this way, the initial composition from one burning phase to another is consistently determined, especially with respect to neutron capture reactions. The aim of our calculations is to gain a full account of the s-process yield from massive stars. In the present work, we describe our code in detail and then focus primarily on results from the s-process during central helium burning. We also illuminate some major uncertainties affecting the calculations. In order to motivate future work on burning in advanced stellar phases, we briefly present some results on the s-process in carbon shell burning; however, we leave a complete analysis of the s-process during the advanced evolutionary phases to a subsequent paper. Our results can help to constrain the yield of the s-process material from massive stars during their presupernova evolution.

Short-Lived Radioactivities and the Birth of the Sun

Now extinct short-lived radioactive isotopes were apparently extant in the early solar system. Their abundances can be inferred from isotopic effects in their daughter nuclei in primitive meteorites, and the deviation of these abundances from expectations from continuous galactic nucleosynthesis yields important information on the last nucleosynthetic events that contributed new nuclei to the solar system and on the general circumstances of the Sun’s birth. In this paper we present a rudimentary model that attempts to reconcile the abundances of ten short-lived radioactivities in the early solar system. In broad outlines, the picture requires 1) that Type Ia Supernovae maintained a steady ISM supply of 53Mn and 146Sm, 2) that the r-process events that slowly admixed new 107Pd, 129I, 182Hf, and 244Pu nuclei to the solar system occurred over an interval of several hundred million years prior to solar system formation, and 3) that a massive star, by injecting only material outside its helium-exhausted core into the proto-solar nebula, contributed 26Al, 36Cl, 41Ca, 60Fe, and 182Hf no more than one million years prior to the Sun’s birth. In this picture, the live 182Hf present in the early solar system was not due to r-process production but rather to a fast s-process in helium or carbon burning shell in the massive star. We conclude with a possible chemical-memory explanation for the putative 53Cr/52Cr gradient in the solar system.

On the Evolution of Stars that Form Electron‐Degenerate Cores Processed by Carbon Burning. III. The Inward Propagation of a Carbon‐Burning Flame and Other Properties of a 9M☉Model Star

A 9 M☉ stellar model of Population I composition is evolved from the hydrogen-burning main sequence to the thermally pulsing super asymptotic giant branch stage, where it has an electron-degenerate core composed of an inner oxygen-neon (ONe) part of mass ~1.066 M☉ and an outer carbon-oxygen (CO) layer of mass ~0.05 M☉ and is experiencing thermal pulses driven by helium-burning thermonuclear flashes. The carbon-burning phase of the 9 M☉ model is in many respects similar to, but differs importantly from that of a 10 M☉ model studied earlier. In both cases, carbon is ignited off center, and a series of carbon flashes accompanied by a convective shell occur. In contrast to the 10 M☉ model, the 9 M☉ model experiences the second dredge-up phenomenon (the penetration of the base of the hydrogen-rich convective envelope inward into helium- and carbon-rich material) near the beginning rather than near the end of the carbon-burning phase. The first carbon-burning flash causes helium burning to shut down and the release of gravothermal energy (compressional and thermal energy) between the helium-carbon discontinuity and the base of the convective envelope plays a dominant role in the dredge-up event. Beginning with the third carbon-burning shell flash, the defined as being coincident with the base of the convective shell, propagates inward with a speed close to theoretical predictions that relate speed to local thermodynamic, opacity, and energy-generation rate characteristics. Ahead of the inward moving front, most of the nuclear energy released in a flame goes into heating and expanding matter. As the precursor moves toward the center, its radial thickness decreases and, to follow the progress of the front with standard techniques, both the spatial grid size and the time step must be continually decreased. Following the front gives one the opportunity to ponder Zeno's paradox, which is averted because the thickness of the precursor remains finite. On reaching the center, the carbon-burning reverses direction and continues moving outward until it is within ~0.03 M☉ of the helium-burning shell. After carbon burning is completed,12C remains at a finite abundance throughout the electron-degenerate core of mass ~1.116 M☉ and is more abundant than 20Ne in the outer ~0.05 M☉ of this core. Over most of the ONe interior of both the 9 and 10 M☉ models,23Na is more abundant than 24Mg, but the maximum 12C abundance in the 9 M☉ model ONe interior (X[12C] ~ 0.048) is significantly larger than in the 10 M☉ model (X[12C] ~ 0.012). For an ONe white dwarf that accretes enough matter to reach the Chandrasekhar limiting mass, this may make the difference between total explosive disruption (large 12C abundance) and collapse to neutron-star dimensions (small 12C abundance). The abundances in the CO part of the core have relevance for understanding the abundances in the ejecta of classical novae produced by massive ONe white dwarfs in close binaries. In the outer ~0.014 M☉ of the CO part of the core, the abundances of all neon isotopes are much less than solar, and 25Mg and the neutron-rich isotopes made during the formation of 25Mg are at a total abundance equal to the initial abundance of CNO elements in the model. As in the 10 M☉ case, thermal pulses occasioned by helium shell flashes begin after hydrogen is reignited and the carbon-burning luminosity drops below ~100 L☉. The time between pulses is ~400 yr, roughly twice as large as in the 10 M☉ model. After the ejection of the hydrogen-rich envelope as a planetary nebula, the remnant of the 9 M☉ model is expected to evolve into a white dwarf of mass ~1.15 M☉, the outer ~0.08 M☉ of which is composed of carbon and oxygen.

The conductive propagation of nuclear flames. 2: Convectively bounded flames in C + O and O + NE + MG cores

We determine the speeds, and many other physical properties, of flame fronts that propagate inward into degenerate and semidegenerate cores of carbon and oxygen (CO) and neon and oxygen (NeOMg) white dwarfs when such flames are bounded on their exterior by a convective region. Combustion in such fronts, per se, is incomplete, with only a small part of the initial mass function burned. A condition of balanced power is set up in the star where the rate of energy emitted as neutrinos from the convective region equals the power available from the unburned fuel that crosses the burning front. The propagation of the burning front itself is in turn limited by the temperature at the base of the convective shell, while cannot greatly exceed the adiabatic value. Solving for consistency between these two conditions gives a unique speed for the flame. Typical values for CO white dwarfs are a few hundredths of a centimeter per second. Flames in NeOMg mixtures are slower. Tables are presented in a form that can easily be implemented in stellar evolution codes and yield the rate at which the convective shell advances into the interior. Combining these velocities with the local equations for stellar structure, we find a minimum density for each gravitational potential below with the local equations for stellar structure, we find a minimum density for each gravitational potential below which the flame cannot propagate, and must die. Although detailed stellar models will have to be constructed to reslove some issues conclusively, our results that a CO white dwarf inginted at its edge will not burn carbon all the way to its center unless the mass of the white dwarf exceeds 0.8 solar mass. On the other hand, it is difficult to ignite carbon burning by compression alone anywhere in a white dwarf whose mass does not exceed 1.0 solar mass. Thus, compressionally ignited shell carbon burning in an accerting CO dwarf almost certainly propagates all the way to the center of the star. Implications for neutron star formation, and Type Ia supernova models, are briefly discussed. These are also applicable to massive stars in the about 10-12 solar mass range which ignite neon burning off center.

S-processing in massive stars as a function of metallicity and interpretation of observational trends

The s-process in massive stars is analyzed as a function of metallicity. The nucleosynthesis occurring in both core helium and shell carbon burning is investigated by numerically modeling nuclear reaction networks, subject to the conditions provided by stellar models. The efficiency of the neutron-capture mechanism depends on the amount of enhancement that is assumed for the α-rich nuclei, that are observed to be overabundant with respect to iron in stars of metallicity lower than solar

Steady state models of white dwarfs accreting helium or carbon/oxygen-rich matter

The authors have calculated steady state models of white dwarfs which accrete helium or carbon/oxygen (C+O)-rich matter. The helium accreting model consists of a highly degenerate C+O core and a helium burning shell, overlaid by a helium envelope. The C+O accreting model consists of a highly degenerate O+Ne+Mg core, a carbon burning shell, and a C+O envelope. For the C+O accreting white dwarfs, there exist minimum accretion rates below which no steady state solution exists. For accretion rates above the minimum value, there exist two branches of solutions: compact and normal branches. All the models in the compact branch are thermally unstable.

Theoretical studies of massive stars. II - Evolution of a 15 solar-mass star from carbon shell burning to iron core collapse

The evolution of a Population I star of 15 solar masses is described from the carbon shell burning stage to the formation and collapse of an iron core. An unusual aspect of the evolution is that neon ignition occurs off-center and neon burning propagates inward by a series of shell flashes. The extent of the core burning is generally smaller than the Chandrasekhar mass, so that most of the nuclear energy generation occurs in shell sources. Because of degeneracy and the influence of rapid convective mixing, these shell sources are unstable and the core goes through large excursions in temperature and density. The small core also causes the shell sources to converge into a narrow mass region slightly above the Chandrasekhar mass. Thus, the final nucleosynthesis yields are generally small, with silicon being most strongly enhanced with respect to solar system abundances.

Theoretical studies of massive stars. I - Evolution of a 15-solar-mass star from the zero-age main sequence to neon ignition

The evolution of a star with mass 15 times that of the sun from the zero-age main sequence to neon ignition has been computed by the Henyey method. The hydrogen-rich envelope and all shell sources were explicitly included in the models. An algorithm has been developed for approximating the results of carbon burning, including the branching ratio for the C-12 + C-12 reaction and taking some secondary reactions into account. Penetration of the convective envelope into the core is found to be unimportant during the stages covered by the models. Energy transfer from the carbon-burning shell to the core by degenerate electron conduction becomes important after the core carbon-burning stage. Neon ignition will occur in a semidegenerate core and will lead to a mild 'flash.' Detailed numerical results are given in an appendix. Continuation of the calculations into later stages and variations with the total mass of the star will be discussed in later papers.