The Böhm-Vitense Gap: The Role of Turbulent Convection

D'Antona, F.; Montalbán, J.; Kupka, F.; Heiter, U.
Bibliographical reference

The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 564, Issue 2, pp. L93-L96.

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1
2002
Number of authors
4
IAC number of authors
1
Citations
24
Refereed citations
18
Description
``Böhm-Vitense gaps,'' discontinuities in the color distribution of A-F type stars along the main sequence, have traditionally been attributed to the abrupt onset of strong convection (8000 K>=Teff>=6400 K) in stellar atmospheres and envelopes. Using the full spectrum of turbulence model to describe convective transport (Canuto, Goldman, & Mazzitelli) both in the interior and in the atmosphere yields a very sharp transition between structures that are convective only in the surface layers and structures that show a well-developed convection also in the interior. This produces a sudden change in the Teff of stars, around Teff~=6800 K. Using numerical simulations, we show that this feature produces a stellar depletion that is consistent with the gap at 0.33<~B-V<~0.38. The standard mixing-length theory does not show this behavior. Consequently, this particular gap is a ``Teff'' gap and not a ``color'' gap. In fact, it is also present in the V-I color distribution of the Hyades stars.
Type