On the Richardson criterion for shear instabilities in rotating stars.

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

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Stars: Rotation, Stars: Intensities, Instabilities, Diffusion

Scientific paper

We examine the onset of instabilities and mixing in shear layers, taking into account the radiative heat losses and μ-gradients. A new and consistent expression of the Richardson criterion is given. In the two limiting cases of adiabatic shears and shears with extreme heat losses we recover the classical expressions. Numerical estimates show that real stellar cases lie in-between these two extreme cases. The turbulent viscosity and diffusion coefficients due to vertical shears are derived. The μ-gradient necessary for stability depends on both the shear and the Peclet number. Interestingly enough, in a semiconvective zone we find an increased difficulty to inhibit shear instabilities by μ-gradient. Thus, due to its small timescale, mixing by shear instabilities could dominate over semiconvective mixing in rotating stars. Finally, a simple expression for the temperature gradient in shear layers is given.

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