MaxiLab: Exploring Mixed Oscillation Modes

Overview

In this maxilab, we will determine when mixed modes are expected to become observable. Recall that \(\nu_\max\) is the frequency at maximum oscillation power, and that we have normalized our frequencies by this frequency. Recall also that only non-radial modes can become mixed modes. Thus, we want to stop our run when the dipole mode closest to \(\nu_\max\) becomes mixed, which we can determine by inspecting its value of md%n_g and seeing when it becomes nonzero.

As the very first step, make a copy of your working directory from MiniLab 3 (with all the changes you have made):

$ cp -a bellinger-2022-mini-3 bellinger-2022-maxi
$ cd bellinger-2022-maxi

Alternatively, if you were unable to get things working with MiniLab 3, then you can grab a working directory for the MaxiLab from here.

Finding the mixed mode

The next step is to add code to determine when the dipole mode closest to \(\nu_\max\) becomes mixed. Since we have normalized our frequencies by subtracting \(\nu_\max\), it will be sufficient to check when the dipole mode whose frequency is closest to zero takes on a nonzero value of \(n_g\).

Exercise

Add a stopping condition to your run by modifying extras_finish_step that checks when the dipole mode closest to zero takes on a nonzero value of \(n_g\). In order to accomplish this, you will need to store the values of \(n_g\) in an integer array. Therefore, you will want to allocate and initialize an array (like we did previously with the frequencies and inertias arrays) and then store the values of md%n_g inside the process_mode subroutine. Then you will want to write a do loop inside extras_finish_step that iterates through the dipole modes and stores the index of the mode whose normalized frequency closest to zero. Finally, you will check whether the stored n_g value for that mode is nonzero, and if so, then set extras_finish_step = terminate.

Mapping the Instability Strip

As the final part of the MaxiLab, we’re going to use GYRE and MESA to map out the extent of the “mixed mode” instability strip for dipole modes. This will involve repeating the evolution for a range of different stellar masses and metallicities, and noting the effective temperature and luminosity when the dipole mode closest to \(\nu_\max\) becomes mixed. To speed things up, we’ll crowd-source the calculations: each student will focus on a single stellar mass, and record their results in a shared online spreadsheet.

If you haven’t had any luck in getting the first part of the MaxiLab working, then you can grab the solution from here; use this as your working directory for the mixed mode calculations.

Picking a Mass

The first step is for each student to pick a (different) mass and composition.

Exercise

Visit the Google spreadsheet here, and claim a row by entering your name to the Name column. Make a note of the mass and metallicity listed in the following columns.

Determining Boundaries

The next step is to perform the calculation and record the instability strip boundaries.

Exercise

Modify inlist_project in your working directory to set the initial stellar mass to your assigned value. Then, use the relax_initial_z and relax_initial_y parameters in star_job (along with new_z and new_y) to input your new composition. In order to obtain a value for Y, we will assume the linear scaling \(Y = 0.2463 + 2 \cdot Z\). Make sure to also modify Zbase in the &kap namelist.

Finally, perform the calculations, and note down the log effective temperature \(\log T_{\rm eff}/{\rm K}\) and log luminosity \(\log L/{\rm L_{\odot}}\) at the new stopping point (you can do this by inspecting the terminal output, or by analyzing the history.data file after the run). Be sure to enter logarithmic values, and use 3 decimal places. Note that you may wish to turn off the writing of profile files, and depending on your mass and metallicity, you may need to alter the pre-existing stopping conditions of the inlist. You may also wish to only begin computing the oscillations when nearing the end of the main sequence, for example by adding logic like if (s%xa(1,s%nz) < 0.01) then ....

A solution can be found here.

Optional Exercise

If you’re feeling bold, see if you can increase the precision with which the boundaries are determined. One approach is to modify the extras_check_model hook, to retry the step with a reduced timestep when a transition from n_g zero to n_g nonzero is detected.

When all the data are collected, we’ll combine them to create a map of the instability strip boundaries in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram.

Optional Open-Source Development

Wouldn’t it be great if MESA were able to output some asteroseismic quantities by default in its history and profile files? Then one could simply add, for example, large_frequency_separation to history_columns.list and MESA would call GYRE to perform this calculation — without needing to modify run_star_extras.f.

Let’s modify MESA’s source code to calculate the some of these quantities, such as the large frequency separation or the period of the fundamental mode. Then, let’s open a pull request on the MESA GitHub to share our modifications with the wider MESA community.

A tutorial for modifying MESA’s source and adding calculations that are then output into the history/profile files can be found here.

This task is intended to be done collaboratively. Communicate on Slack with others who are working on this. Distribute tasks, such as (a) creating the history column outputs, (b) calling GYRE within MESA, (c) handling the GYRE inlist, and (d) creating an appropriate test_suite case. Anyone who attempts this task will be credited by name on the pull request.