Three-dimensional Numerical Experimentation on the Core Helium Flash of Low-Mass Red Giants

We model the core helium flash in a low-mass red giant using Djehuty, a fully three-dimensional (3D) code. The 3D structures were generated from converged models obtained during the one-dimensional (1D) evolutionary calculation of a 1 M star. Independently of which starting point we adopted, we found that after some transient relaxation the 3D model settled down with a briskly convecting He-burning shell that was not very different from what the 1D model predicted.