Lithium abundances in main-sequence F stars and sub-giants

Abstract

The application to main-sequence stars of the rotation-induced mixing theory in the presence of mu-gradients leads to partial mixing in the lithium destruction region, not visible in the atmosphere. The induced lithium depletion becomes visible in the sub-giant phase as soon as the convective zone deepens enough. This may explain why the observed " lithium dilution " is smoother and the final dilution factor larger than obtained in standard models, while the lithium abundance variations are very small on the main sequence.