[mesa-users] semi-convection

[David Arnett]

What Arlette says is related to what the simulations show: there is a
boundary layer between the convectively unstable region according to
Schwarzschild and the convectively stable region which can support a
composition gradient. It does not appear in MLT because the adiabatic
excess is negative there (imaginary convective velocity in MLT, in reality
it gives negative buoyancy to keep convection inside the mixing region);
the point of zero buoyancy and zero mixing velocity occur at different
radii. In this context, "semi-convective mixing" near the boundary is
"entrainment". I am writing this up, so comments, questions, and complaints
are welcome!

-- 
David Arnett
Regents Professor
Steward Observatory
University of Arizona

Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable.  Mark Twain
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.  Aldous Huxley
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