A closer look at the transition between fully convective and partly radiative low mass stars

TL;DR

This paper investigates the transition in low-mass stars from fully convective to partly radiative states, confirming the role of nuclear processes and challenging previous explanations based on stellar structure changes.

Contribution

The study re-examines and refines the explanation for the observed gap in mid-M dwarfs, emphasizing nuclear burning processes over structural changes.

Findings

Nuclear burning and mixing of helium-3 explain the observed gap.

Changes in energy transport do not cause visible structural differences.

The paper proposes a different explanation for the detailed process than previous models.

Abstract

Recently, Jao et al. (2018) discovered a gap in the mid-M dwarfs main sequence revealed by the analysis of Gaia data Release 2. They suggested the feature is linked to the onset of full convection in M dwarfs. Following the announcement of this discovery, MacDonald & Gizis (2018) proposed an explanation based on standard stellar evolution models. In this paper we re-examine the explanation suggested by MacDonald & Gizis (2018). We confirm that nuclear burning and mixing process of $^3$He provide the best explanation for the observed feature. We also find that a change in the energy transport from convection to radiation does not induce structural changes that could be visible. Regarding the very details of the process, however, we disagree with MacDonald & Gizis (2018) and propose a different explanation.