The new Toulouse-Geneva Stellar Evolution Code including radiative accelerations of heavy elements

TL;DR

This paper introduces an updated stellar evolution code that incorporates radiative accelerations of heavy elements using a simplified method, enabling more efficient modeling of A- and early-type stars and comparison with existing models.

Contribution

The paper implements radiative accelerations into the TGEC stellar evolution code using a semi-analytical method, facilitating faster computations and enabling detailed studies of coupled processes in stellar models.

Findings

Radiative accelerations significantly affect element distribution in stellar interiors.

The updated TGEC code produces results consistent with the Montreal code for A-type stars.

Coupling radiative accelerations with macroscopic motions impacts stellar structure modeling.

Abstract

Atomic diffusion has been recognized as an important process that has to be considered in any computations of stellar models. In solar-type and cooler stars, this process is dominated by gravitational settling, which is now included in most stellar evolution codes. In hotter stars, radiative accelerations compete with gravity and become the dominant ingredient in the diffusion flux for most heavy elements. Introducing radiative accelerations into the computations of stellar models modifies the internal element distribution and may have major consequences on the stellar structure. Coupling these processes with hydrodynamical stellar motions has important consequences that need to be investigated in detail. We aim to include the computations of radiative accelerations in a stellar evolution code (here the TGEC code) using a simplified method (SVP) so that it may be coupled with sophisticated macroscopic motions. We also compare the results with those of the Montreal code in specific cases for validation and study the consequences of these coupled processes on accurate models of A- and early-type stars. We implemented radiative accelerations computations into the Toulouse-Geneva stellar evolution code following the semi-analytical prescription proposed by Alecian and LeBlanc. This allows more rapid computations than the full description used in the Montreal code. We present results for A-type stellar models computed with this updated version of TGEC and compare them with similar published models obtained with the Montreal evolution code. We discuss the consequences for the coupling with macroscopic motions, including thermohaline convection.