Probing core overshooting using subgiant asteroseismology: the case of KIC10273246

TL;DR

This paper uses a novel seismic modeling method on the young subgiant KIC10273246 to constrain the size of its main sequence convective core, demonstrating the importance of core overshooting and mixed modes in stellar evolution studies.

Contribution

It introduces a tailored nested optimization method for seismic modeling of subgiants with mixed modes and provides new constraints on core overshooting in stellar models.

Findings

Including core overshooting improves seismic fit quality.

Optimal overshooting parameter found at α_ov=0.15.

Higher overshooting values are inconsistent with observations.

Abstract

The size of convective cores remains uncertain, despite its substantial influence on stellar evolution, and thus on stellar ages. The seismic modeling of young subgiants can be used to obtain indirect constraints on the core structure during main sequence, thanks to the high probing potential of mixed modes. We selected the young subgiant KIC10273246, observed by Kepler, based on its mixed-mode properties. We thoroughly modeled this star, with the aim of placing constraints on the size of its main sequence convective core. We first extracted the parameters of the oscillation modes of the star using the full Kepler data set. To overcome the challenges posed by the seismic modeling of subgiants, we proposed a method which is specifically tailored for subgiants with mixed modes and consists in a nested optimization. We then applied this method to perform a detailed seismic modeling of KIC10273246. We obtained models that show good statistical agreements with the observations, both seismic and non-seismic. We showed that including core overshooting in the models significantly improves the quality of the seismic fit, optimal models being found for $\alpha_{\mathrm{ov}} = 0.15$. Higher amounts of core overshooting strongly worsen the agreement with the observations and are thus firmly ruled out. We also found that having access to two g-dominated mixed modes in young subgiants allows us to place stronger constraints on the gradient of molecular weight in the core and on the central density. This study confirms the high potential of young subgiants with mixed modes to investigate the size of main-sequence convective cores. It paves the way for a more general study including the subgiants observed with Kepler, TESS, and eventually PLATO.