Ledoux's convection criterion in evolution and asteroseismology of massive stars

TL;DR

This paper investigates how using Ledoux's convection criterion influences the evolution of convective zones and pulsation properties in massive stars, impacting asteroseismology and stellar modeling.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the effects of Ledoux's criterion on convective region development and pulsation spectra in 15 and 20 solar mass stars.

Findings

Ledoux's criterion alters the development of intermediate convective zones.

Changes in convective regions affect the pulsation spectra of massive stars.

Results have implications for asteroseismic modeling of B-type variables.

Abstract

Saio et al. (2006) have shown that the presence of an intermediate convective zone (ICZ) in post-main sequence models could prevent the propagation of g-modes in the radiative interior and hence avoid the corresponding radiative damping. The development of such a convective region highly depends on the structure of the star in the mu-gradient region surrounding the convective core during the main sequence phase. In particular,the development of this ICZ depends on physical processes such as mass loss, overshooting (Chiosi & Maeder 1986, Chiosi et al. 1992, see also Godart et al., these proceedings) and convective instability criterion (Schwarzschild's or Ledoux's criteria). In this paper we study the consequences of adopting the Ledoux's criterion on the evolution of the convective regions in massive stars (15 and 20 Msun), and on the pulsation spectrum of these new B-type variables (also called SPBsg).