Surface C, N, O, and Na abundances of RR Lyrae variables implying the nature of internal mixing in low-mass stars

TL;DR

This study investigates the surface abundances of C, N, O, and Na in RR Lyrae stars to understand internal mixing processes in low-mass stars, finding evidence for thermohaline mixing affecting C and N but not Na, challenging current theories.

Contribution

It provides observational evidence supporting thermohaline mixing in low-mass stars and highlights discrepancies in Na abundance predictions, prompting theoretical improvements.

Findings

Confirmed C deficiency and N enrichment in RR Lyrae stars

Observed decrease in [C/N] ratio with lower metallicity

Na abundance trends match dwarf stars, conflicting with models

Abstract

Photospheric abundances of C, N, O, and Na were determined by applying the synthetic spectrum-fitting technique to 34 snap-shot high-dispersion spectra of 22 RR Lyr stars covering a metallicity range of -1.8 <[Fe/H] < 0.0, with an aim of investigating the mixing mechanism in the interior of low-mass giant stars by examining the abundance anomalies of these elements possibly affected by the evolution-induced dredge-up of nuclear burning products. Special attention was paid to check the recent theoretical stellar evolution simulations indicating the importance of thermohaline mixing in low-mass stars (M <~1 M_sun), which is expected to be more significant as the metallicity is lowered. By inspecting the resulting abundances in comparison with those of unevolved metal-poor dwarfs at the same metallicity, the deficiency in C as well as enrichment in N was confirmed (while O is almost unchanged), the extent of peculiarities tending to increase with a decrease in [Fe/H]. Accordingly, the [C/N] ratio turned out to progressively decrease towards lower metallicity from ~0 (Fe/H]~0) to ~-1 ([Fe/H]~-1.5), which is reasonably consistent with the theoretical prediction in the presence of thermohaline mixing. However, these RR Lyr stars do not show any apparent Na anomaly (i.e., essentially the same [Na/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] trends as those of dwarfs), despite that metallicity-dependent overabundance in Na is theoretically expected for the case of non-canonical mixing. This inconsistency between C/N and Na may suggest a necessity of further improvement in the current theory.