Convective Overshooting in Stellar Interior Models

Abstract

The question of overshooting from interior convective cores in stellar models is examined in the framework of a simplified nonlocal mixing-length model for convection. The most important results are (a) a finite nonnegligible overshoot is obtained for parameter combinations typical of stellar convective cores; (b) a finite nonzero overshoot is obtained even in the limit of adiabatic convection (achieved when convective speeds tend to zero). A general thermodynamic argument is presented to show that the limiting results are not model dependent. Subject headings: convection - interiors, stellar