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Published Online October 26, 2006
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1133065

Reports

Submitted on July 26, 2006
Accepted on October 12, 2006

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

Peter P. Eggleton 1*, David S. P. Dearborn 2, John C. Lattanzio 3

1 Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94551, USA.
2 Physics and Applied Technologies Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94551, USA.
3 Centre for Stellar and Planetary Astrophysics, Monash University, Australia.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Peter P. Eggleton , E-mail: ppe{at}igpp.ucllnl.org

Low-mass stars, ~1 to 2 solar masses, near the Main Sequence are efficient at producing 3He, 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 3He 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 3He production in low-mass stars poses to the Big Bang nucleosynthesis of 3He.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Comment on "Deep Mixing of 3He: Reconciling Big Bang and Stellar Nucleosynthesis".
D. S. Balser, R. T. Rood, and T. M. Bania (2007)
Science 317, 1170b
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)