Abstract
We review some of the mixing processes that may influence the evolution of massive stars, such as penetrative convection, and put our emphasis on those which occur in the radiative envelope. There the main transport mechanisms are a thermally driven meridian circulation, which departs significantly from the classical Eddington-Sweet description, together with turbulent motions generated by the differential rotation. This rotation-induced mixing will surround the convective core of such stars with a region of decreasing helium content, which may prevent semi-convection from ever appearing; the extent of this region depends sensitively on the rotation rate. The results are compared with those obtained earlier by Mestel (1953). Work is in progress to verify whether stars which rotate sufficiently fast may be thoroughly mixed.
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Zahn, J.P. Mixing processes and stellar evolution. Space Sci Rev 66, 285–297 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00771079
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00771079