Observational constraints for lithium depletion before the RGB^*

¹ Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Département Fresnel, UMR 6528 CNRS, BP 4229, 06304 Nice, France
² Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59072-970 Natal, RN., Brazil
³ Groupe d'Astrophysique, UMR 5024/CNRS, U. de Montpellier, Place Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France

Corresponding author: J. R. De Medeiros, renan@dfte.ufrn.br

Received: 4 February 2003
Accepted: 18 April 2003

Abstract

Precise Li abundances are determined for 54 giant stars mostly evolving across the Hertzsprung gap. We combine these data with rotational velocity and with information related to the deepening of the convective zone of the stars to analyse their link to Li dilution in the referred spectral region. A sudden decline in Li abundance paralleling the one already established in rotation is quite clear. Following similar results for other stellar luminosity classes and spectral regions, there is no linear relation between Li abundance and rotation, in spite of the fact that most of the fast rotators present high Li content. The effects of convection in driving the Li dilution is also quite clear. Stars with high Li content are mostly those with an undeveloped convective zone, whereas stars with a developed convective zone present clear sign of Li dilution.