Self-regulated hydrodynamical process in halo stars : a possible explanation of the lithium plateau

Abstract

It has been known for a long time (Mestel~1953) that the meridional circulation velocity in stars, in the presence of mu-gradients, is the sum of two terms, one due to the classical thermal imbalance (Omega-currents) and the other one due to the induced horizontal mu-gradients (mu-induced currents, or mu-currents in short). In the most general cases, mu-currents are opposite to Omega-currents. Vauclair (1999) has shown that such processes can, in specific cases, lead to a quasi-equilibrium stage in which both the circulation and the helium settling is frozen. Here we present computations of the circulation currents in halo star models, along the whole evolutionary sequences for four stellar masses with a metallicity of [Fe/H] = -2. We show that such a self-regulated process can account for the constancy of the lithium abundances and the small dispersion in the Spite plateau.