Inhibition of thermohaline mixing by a magnetic field in Ap star descendants: Implications for the Galactic evolution of 3He

To reconcile the measurements of 3He/H in Galactic HII regions with high values of 3He in a couple of planetary nebulae, we propose that thermohaline mixing is inhibited by a fossil magnetic field in red giant stars that are descendants of Ap stars. We examine the effect of a magnetic field on the salt-finger instability, using a local analysis. We obtain a threshold for the magnetic field of 10^4 - 10^5 Gauss, above which it inhibits thermohaline mixing in red giant stars located at or above the bump. Fields of that order are expected in the descendants of the Ap stars, taking into account the contraction of their core. We conclude that in a large fraction of the descendants of Ap stars thermohaline mixing does not occur. As a consequence these objects must produce 3He as predicted by the standard theory of stellar evolution and as observed in the planetary nebulae NGC3242 and J320. The relative number of such stars with respect to non-magnetic objects that undergo thermohaline mixing is consistent with the statistical constraint coming from observations of the carbon isotopic ratio in red giant stars. It also satisfies the Galactic requirements for the evolution of the 3He abundance.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A Letters (Vol.476

Summability of solutions of the heat equation with inhomogeneous thermal conductivity in two variables

We investigate Gevrey order and 1-summability properties of the formal solution of a general heat equation in two variables. In particular, we give necessary and sufficient conditions for the 1-summability of the solution in a given direction. When restricted to the case of constants coefficients, these conditions coincide with those given by D.A. Lutz, M. Miyake, R. Schaefke in a 1999 article, and we thus provide a new proof of their result.Comment: 16 page

On optimal truncation of divergent series solutions of nonlinear differential systems; Berry smoothing

We prove that for divergent series solutions of nonlinear (or linear) differential systems near a generic irregular singularity, the common prescription of summation to the least term is, if properly interpreted, meaningful and correct, and we extend this method to transseries solutions. In every direction in the complex plane at the singularity (Stokes directions {\em not} excepted) there exists a nonempty set of solutions whose difference from the ``optimally'' (i.e., near the least term) truncated asymptotic series is of the same (exponentially small) order of magnitude as the least term of the series. There is a family of generalized Borel summation formulas $\mathcal{B}$ which commute with the usual algebraic and analytic operations (addition, multiplication, differentiation, etc). We show that there is exactly one of them, $\mathcal{B}_0$, such that for any formal series solution $\tilde{f}$, $\mathcal{B}_0(\tilde{f})$ differs from the optimal truncation of $\tilde{f}$ by at most the order of the least term of $\tilde{f}$. We show in addition that the Berry (1989) smoothing phenomenon is universal within this class of differential systems. Whenever the terms ``beyond all orders'' {\em change} in crossing a Stokes line, these terms vary smoothly on the Berry scale $\arg(x)\sim |x|^{-1/2}$ and the transition is always given by the error function; under the same conditions we show that Dingle's rule of signs for Stokes transitions holds

The Arecibo HII Region Discovery Survey

We report the detection of radio recombination line emission (RRL) using the Arecibo Observatory at X-band (9GHz, 3cm) from 37 previously unknown HII regions in the Galactic zone 66 deg. > l > 31 deg. and |b| < 1 deg. This Arecibo HII Region Discovery Survey (Arecibo HRDS) is a continuation of the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) HRDS. The targets for the Arecibo HRDS have spatially coincident 24 micron and 20 cm emission of a similar angular morphology and extent. To take advantage of Arecibo's sensitivity and small beam size, sources in this sample are fainter, smaller in angle, or in more crowded fields compared to those of the GBT HRDS. These Arecibo nebulae are some of the faintest HII regions ever detected in RRL emission. Our detection rate is 58%, which is low compared to the 95% detection rate for GBT HRDS targets. We derive kinematic distances to 23 of the Arecibo HRDS detections. Four nebulae have negative LSR velocities and are thus unambiguously in the outer Galaxy. The remaining sources are at the tangent point distance or farther. We identify a large, diffuse HII region complex that has an associated HI and 13CO shell. The ~90 pc diameter of the G52L nebula in this complex may be the largest Galactic HII region known, and yet it has escaped previous detection.Comment: Accepted to ApJ Data can be found here: http://go.nrao.edu/hrd