Fully Nonadiabatic Analysis of Vibrational Instability of Population III Stars due to the $\varepsilon$-Mechanism

TL;DR

This paper conducts a comprehensive nonadiabatic analysis revealing that Population III stars with masses below 13 solar masses are vibrationally unstable due to the ε-mechanism, potentially affecting their evolution.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed nonadiabatic analysis of vibrational stability in Population III stars, highlighting the ε-mechanism's role during early stellar evolution.

Findings

Stars with M < 13 solar masses are unstable against g-modes due to the ε-mechanism.

Instability occurs during early evolution when the pp-chain dominates.

Growth times of instabilities are shorter than stellar evolutionary timescales.

Abstract

A linear nonadiabatic analysis of the vibrational stability of population III main-sequence stars was carried out. It was demonstrated that, in the case of massive stars with $M \gtrsim 5\Mo$, helium burning (triple alpha reaction) starts during the main-sequence stage and produces $^{12}{\rm C}$, leading to the activation of a part of the CNO-cycle. It was found that, despite of that, those stars with $M\lesssim 13\Mo$ become unstable against the dipole g$_1$- and g$_2$-modes due to the $\varepsilon$-mechanism, during the early evolutionary phase at which the pp-chain is still the dominant nuclear energy source. The instability due to the $\varepsilon$-mechanism occurs against g-modes having a large amplitude in the off-centered $^3$He accumulation shell in the deep interior, and the growth time is much shorter than the evolutionary timescale. This instability is therefore likely to induce mixing in the stellar interior, and have a significant influence on the evolution of these stars.