The dependence of convective core overshooting on stellar mass: Additional binary systems and improved calibration

TL;DR

This study refines the understanding of how convective core overshooting varies with stellar mass, using new binary star data to improve stellar evolution models and their applications in age determination and asteroseismology.

Contribution

It provides an expanded observational calibration of the overshooting parameter f(ov) in stars below 2 solar masses, enhancing the accuracy of stellar models.

Findings

f(ov) increases sharply up to 2 solar masses

New binary data supports previous trend of f(ov) with mass

Improved calibration impacts stellar age and property estimates

Abstract

Many current stellar evolution models assume some dependence of the strength of convective core overshooting on mass for stars more massive than 1.1-1.2 solar masses, but the adopted shapes for that relation have remained somewhat arbitrary for lack of strong observational constraints. In previous work we compared stellar evolution models to well-measured eclipsing binaries to show that, when overshooting is implemented as a diffusive process, the fitted free parameter f(ov) rises sharply up to about 2 solar masses, and remains largely constant thereafter. Here we analyze a new sample of eight binaries selected to be in the critical mass range below 2 solar masses where f(ov) is changing the most, nearly doubling the number of individual stars in this regime. This interval is important because the precise way in which f(ov) changes determines the shape of isochrones in the turnoff region of 1-5 Gyr clusters, and can thus affect their inferred ages. It also has a significant influence on estimates of stellar properties for exoplanet hosts, on stellar population synthesis, and on the detailed modeling of interior stellar structures, including the calculation of oscillation frequencies that are observable with asteroseismic techniques. We find that the derived f(ov) values for our new sample are consistent with the trend defined by our earlier determinations, and strengthen the relation. This provides an opportunity for future series of models to test the new prescription, grounded on observations, against independent observations that may constrain overshooting in a different way.