Variations in the Na-O anticorrelation in globular clusters

The Na-O anticorrelation seen in almost all globular clusters ever studied using high-resolution spectroscopy is now generally explained by the primordial pollution from the first generation of the intermediate-mass AGB stars to the proto-stellar clouds of the second generation of stars. Using the recent data by Carretta and his collaborators, the different shapes of the Na-O anticorrelations for RGB stars brighter than and fainter than the red giant branch bump can be clearly seen. If the elemental abundance measurements by Carretta and his collaborators are not greatly in error, this variation in the Na-O anticorrelation against luminosity indicates an internal deep mixing episode during the ascent of the low-mass RGB in globular clusters. Our result implies that the multiple stellar population division scheme solely based on [O/Fe] and [Na/Fe] ratios of a globular cluster, which is becoming popular, is not reliable for stars brighter than the RGB bump.