Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Oct 1933
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1933natur.132..639e&link_type=abstract
Nature, Volume 132, Issue 3338, pp. 639 (1933).
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Scientific paper
THE letter of Gamow and Landau1 suggests that an upper limit to the internal temperature of a star can be obtained by considering the disintegration of lithium. Investigations of this kind will probably be of great importance in the future development of astrophysics, but the actual proposal of Gamow and Landau rests on an assumption which is scarcely likely to be true. They postulate that any lithium found at the surface must have been carried there by diffusion from the central region, where it is presumed to have been created. Diffusion in a star is an exceedingly slow process, the time of relaxation being of the order 1013 years2. It would make small progress during the maximum age of the giant stars. But there is a process of mixing which is likely to operate much faster, namely, the circulating currents in meridian planes indirectly caused by the rotation of the star. The order of magnitude is indicated in an example treated by the writer in which the speed of the vertical current was found to be 60 metres a year3. The example was chosen with the view of giving an upper limit to the amount of this circulation ; but, allowing for slower currents in an average star, the lithium will be brought to the surface far more quickly in this way than by diffusion.
No associations
LandOfFree
Atomic Transmutation and the Temperatures of Stars does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Atomic Transmutation and the Temperatures of Stars, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Atomic Transmutation and the Temperatures of Stars will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-924068