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We examine the composition of barium stars in the context of mass transfer from an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) companion. We accrete between 0.01 and 0.5 M⊙ of AGB ejecta on to low-mass companions of [Fe/H]  = −0.25 at the ages expected for the end of the lives of AGB stars of 2.5, 3, and 4 M⊙. In each case, we form a star of 2.5 M⊙ that is thought to be a typical barium star mass. We discuss the extent of dilution of accreted material as the star evolves, and describe the impact on the surface abundances. For accretion from a 2.5 M⊙ primary, if the secondary's initial mass is 2.45 M⊙ or more, accretion takes place when the secondary is undergoing core helium burning. Using data from the sample of De Castro et al. we attempt to fit the observed properties of 74 barium giants using the models we have computed. We find that all but six of these objects are best fit using ejecta from 2.5 M⊙ (32 objects) or 3 M⊙ (36 objects) AGB stars. Higher accretion masses are typically required when accreting from a lower mass companion. We find accretion masses that are broadly consistent with recent hydrodynamical simulations of wind mass transfer, though the accretion efficiency is towards the upper limit found in these simulations. For the 18 stars with reported orbital periods, we find no strong correlations between period and accretion mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use the three-dimensional (3D) stellar structure code DJEHUTY to model the ingestion of protons into the intershell convection zone of a 1 M⊙ asymptotic giant branch star of metallicity Z = 10-4. We have run two simulations: a low-resolution one of around 300,000 zones and a high-resolution one consisting of 2.000,000 zones. Both simulations have been evolved for about 4 hr of stellar time. We observe the existence of fast, downward flowing plumes that are able to transport hydrogen into close proximity to the helium-burning shell before burning takes place. The intershell in the 3D model is richer in protons than the 1D model by several orders of magnitude and so we obtain substantially higher hydrogen-burning luminosities--over 108 L⊙ in the high-resolution simulation--than are found in the 1D model. Convective velocities in these simulations are over ten times greater than the predictions of mixing length theory, though the 3D simulations have greater energy generation due to the enhanced hydrogen burning. We find no evidence of the convective zone splitting into two, though this could be as a result of insufficient spatial resolution or because the models have not been evolved for long enough. We suggest that the 1D mixing length theory and particularly the use of a diffusion algorithm for mixing do not give an accurate picture of these events. An advective mixing scheme may give a better representation of the transport processes seen in the 3D models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the behaviour of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars between metallicities and 10−8. We determine which stars undergo an episode of flash-driven mixing, where protons are ingested into the intershell convection zone, as they enter the thermally pulsing AGB phase and which undergo third dredge-up. We find that flash-driven mixing does not occur above a metallicity of for any mass of star and that stars above do not experience this phenomenon at any metallicity. We find carbon ingestion (CI), the mixing of carbon into the tail of hydrogen-burning region, occurs in the mass range to around . We suggest that CI may be a weak version of the flash-driven mechanism. We also investigate the effects of convective overshooting on the behaviour of these objects. Our models struggle to explain the frequency of Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor (CEMP) stars that have both significant carbon and nitrogen enhancement. Carbon can be enhanced through flash-driven mixing, CI or just third dredge-up. Nitrogen can be enhanced through hot bottom burning and the occurrence of hot dredge-up also converts carbon into nitrogen. The C/N ratio may be a good indicator of the mass of the primary AGB stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We model the evolution of the abundances of light elements in carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars, under the assumption that such stars are formed by mass transfer in a binary system. We have modelled the accretion of material ejected by an asymptotic giant branch star on to the surface of a companion star. We then examine three different scenarios: one in which the material is mixed only by convective processes, one in which thermohaline mixing is present and a third in which both thermohaline mixing and gravitational settling are taken in to account. The results of these runs are compared to light element abundance measurements in CEMP stars (primarily CEMP- s stars, which are rich in s-processes elements and likely to have formed by mass transfer from an AGB star), focusing on the elements Li, F, Na and Mg. None of the elements is able to provide a conclusive picture of the extent of mixing of accreted material. We confirm that lithium can only be preserved if little mixing takes place. The bulk of the sodium observations suggest that accreted material is effectively mixed but there are also several highly Na and Mg-rich objects that can only be explained if the accreted material is unmixed. We suggest that the available sodium data may hint that extra mixing is taking place on the giant branch, though we caution that the data are sparse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the uncertainty in surface abundances and yields of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. We apply three different mass-loss laws to a 1.5-M⊙ star of metallicity at the beginning of the thermally pulsing-asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) phase. Efficient third dredge-up is found even at very low envelope mass, contrary to previous simulations with other evolution codes. We find that the yield of carbon is uncertain by about 15 per cent and for most other light elements the yield is uncertain at the level of 20–80 per cent. For iron group elements, the uncertainty varies from around 30 per cent for the more-abundant species to over a factor of 2 for the less-abundant radioactive species, like 60Fe. The post-AGB surface abundances for this mass and metallicity are much more uncertain due to the dilution of dredged-up material in differing envelope masses in the later stages of the models. Our results are compared to known planetary nebula and post-AGB abundances. We find that the models are mostly consistent with observations but we are unable to reproduce observations of some of the isotopes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A long standing problem with asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star models has been their inability to produce the low-luminosity carbon stars in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC, respectively). Dredge-up must begin earlier and extend deeper. We find this for the first time in our models of LMC metallicity. Such features are not found in our models of SMC metallicity. The fully implicit and simultaneous stellar evolution codestars has been used to calculate the evolution of AGB stars with metallicities of and , corresponding to the observed metallicities of the LMC and SMC, respectively. Third dredge-up occurs in stars of and above and carbon stars were found for models between and . We use the detailed models as input physics for a population synthesis code and generate carbon star luminosity functions. We now find that we are able to reproduce the carbon star luminosity function of the LMC without any manipulation of our models. The SMC carbon star luminosity function still cannot be produced from our detailed models unless the minimum core mass for third dredge-up is reduced by . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a comparison of the frequencies of carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) giant and main-sequence turnoff (MSTO) stars with predictions from binary population-synthesis models involving asymptotic giant-branch (AGB) mass transfer. The giant and MSTO stars are selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration. We consider two initial mass functions (IMFs)—a Salpeter IMF, and a mass function with a characteristic mass of 10 M☼. For giant stars, the comparison indicates a good agreement between the observed CEMP frequencies and the AGB binary model using a Salpeter IMF for [Fe/H] > – 1.5, and a characteristic mass of 10 M☼ for [Fe/H] < – 2.5. This result suggests that the IMF shifted from high- to low-mass dominated in the early history of the Milky Way, which appears to have occurred at a “chemical time” between [Fe/H] =–2.5 and [Fe/H] =–1.5. The CEMP frequency for the turnoff stars with [Fe/H] < – 3.0 is much higher than the AGB model prediction from the high-mass IMF, supporting the previous assertion that one or more additional mechanisms, not associated with AGB stars, are required for the production of carbon-rich material below [Fe/H] =–3.0. We also discuss possible effects of first dredge-up and extra mixing in red giants and internal mixing in turnoff stars on the derived CEMP frequencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]