Effect of rapid mass accretion onto the low-mass main sequence stars

We investigated the effects of rapid mass accretion on low-mass main sequence stars with deep convective envelopes (0.3 and 0.5 Msun), taking into account the heating of their photospheres by the kinetic energy of the infalling matter. We found that these stars develop highly inhomogeneous structure consisting of an interior formed by an almost unperturbed original star and the radiative envelope composed of the accreted matter. These two regions are separated by a very stable temperature inversion layer. Due to such structure accreting convective star may substantially increase its radius (contrary to earlier suggestions). 7 refs., 10 figs., 1 tab. (author)