Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jul 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008mnras.388..416m&link_type=abstract
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 388, Issue 1, pp. 416-420.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
8
Sun: Activity, Sun: Magnetic Fields, Stars: Activity, Stars: Late-Type
Scientific paper
We summarize evidence that neither dynamo theory nor the observational data give strong support to the idea that stellar magnetic fields must have dipolar rather than quadrupolar symmetry with respect to the stellar equator. We demonstrate that even the most basic model for magnetic stellar activity, i.e. the Parker migratory dynamo, provides many possibilities for the excitation of large-scale stellar magnetic fields of non-dipolar symmetry. We demonstrate the spontaneous transition of the dynamo-excited magnetic field from one symmetry type to another. We explore observational tests to distinguish between the two types of magnetic field symmetry, and thus detect the presence of quadrupolar magnetic symmetry in stars. Complete absence of quadrupolar symmetry would present a distinct challenge for contemporary stellar dynamo theory. We revisit some observations which, depending on further clarification, may already be revealing some properties of the quadrupolar component of the magnetic fields generated by stellar dynamos.
Moss David
Saar Steven H.
Sokoloff Dmitry
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