Abstract
The role of convection in the core helium flash is simulated by two-dimensional eddies interacting with the thermonuclear runaway. These eddies are followed by the explicit solution of the 2D conservation laws with a 2D finite difference hydrodynamics code. Thus, no phenomenological theory of convection such as the local mixing length theory is required.
Our core helium flash is violent, producing a deflagration wave. This differs from the detonation wave (and subsequent disruption of the entire star) produced in previous spherically symmetric violent core helium flashes as the second dimension provides a degree of relief which allows the expansion wave to decouple itself from the burning front. Our results predict that a considerable amount of helium in the core will be burned before the horizontal branch is reached and that some envelope mass loss is likely.
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Cole, P.W., Deupree, R.G. The core helium flash. Space Sci Rev 27, 491–493 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00168340
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00168340