[Mesa-users] Stellar Convective Zone Evolution

[Chris Wang]

Dear MESA users,
I am a sophomore undergraduate physics/astronomy student from JHU, and I am using MESA to understand the convective zone evolution of main sequence stars of different masses. I simulated stellar models of different masses and solar metallicity to the TAMS stage with following command:
xa_central_lower_limit_species(1) = 'h1'
xa_central_lower_limit(1) = 1d-3
When I plotted the Kippenhaln diagram using conv_mx_1_top, conv_mx_1_bot, conv_mx_2_top, conv_mx_2_bot parameters from history.data files, there is some strange “deepening” of surface convective zone for stars of mass between 1.2 solar mass and 1.8 solar mass, which probably should not take place. For example, for 1.4 solar mass stellar model, there seems to be an “oscillation” of surface convective zone at ~1Myr. I have attached those Kippenhaln diagrams in this email. I am wondering if you can offer me some physical explanations for this phenomenon, or maybe point out some potential “bugs” in my simulation. Thank you so much!
Best,
Chris Wang
Johns Hopkins University

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