Modeling the formation of the $^{13}$C neutron source in AGB stars


Abstract in English

A major source of uncertainty in AGB models is the partial-mixing process of hydrogen, required for the formation of the so-called $^{13}$C pocket. Among the attempts to derive a self-consistent treatment of this physical process, there are 2D and 3D simulations of magnetic buoyancy. The $^{13}$C pocket resulting from mixing induced by magnetic buoyancy extends over a region larger than those so far assumed, showing an almost flat $^{13}$C distribution and a negligible amount of $^{14}$N. Recently, it has been proved to be a good candidate to match the records of isotopic abundance ratios of $s$-elements in presolar SiC grains. However, up to date such a magnetic mixing has been applied in post-process calculations only, being never implemented in a stellar evolutionary code. Here we present new stellar models, performed with the 1-d hydrostatic FUNS evolutionary code, which include magnetic buoyancy. We comment the resulting $s$-process distributions and show preliminary comparisons to spectroscopic observations and pre-solar grains measurements.

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