Hydrodynamic modelling of pulsation period decrease in the Mira-type variable T UMi

TL;DR

This study uses numerical stellar evolution and hydrodynamics to model the pulsation period decrease in T UMi, linking it to thermal pulses and mode switching, and aligns theoretical predictions with observations.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed hydrodynamic model of T UMi's period decrease, connecting pulsation changes to thermal pulses and mode switching in AGB stars.

Findings

Period decrease coincides with helium-burning luminosity peak.

Rapid period decrease occurs within the first three decades.

Model matches observed period change rates for certain stellar masses.

Abstract

Pulsation period decrease during the initial stage of the thermal pulse in the helium-burning shell of the Mira-type variable T UMi is investigated with numerical methods of stellar evolution and radiation hydrodynamics. To this end, a grid of evolutionary tracks was calculated for stars with masses on the main sequence $1M_\odot\le M_\textrm{ZAMS}\le 2.2M_\odot$ and metallicity $Z=0.01$. Selected models of AGB evolutionary sequences were used for determination of the initial conditions and the time--dependent inner boundary conditions for the equations of hydrodynamics describing evolutionary changes in the radially pulsating star. The onset of period decrease during the initial stage of the thermal pulse is shown to nearly coincide with the peak helium-burning luminosity. The most rapid decrease of the period occurs during the first three decades. The pulsation period decreases due to both contraction of the star and mode switching from the fundamental mode to the first overtone. The time-scale of mode switching is of the order of a few dozen pulsation cycles. The present-day model of the Mira-type variable T UMi is the first-overtone pulsator with small-amplitude semi-regular oscillations. Theoretical estimates of the pulsation period at the onset of period decrease and the rate of period change three decades later are shown to agree with available observational data on T UMi for AGB stars with masses $ 1.04M_\odot\le M\le 1.48M_\odot$.