Is the efficiency of magnetic braking limited by polar spots?

Computer Science

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

The presence of high latitude spots on the surface of rapidly rotating cool-stars and the subsequent concentration of magnetic flux near the poles has lead to the idea that this causes a reduction in the angular momentum carried away by the stellar wind. We investigate the influence of the concentration of surface magnetic flux towards the pole on the topology of the coronal magnetic field and its efficiency in removing angular momentum from the star. If we neglect the effect of the wind, then the topology of fully open or partially open magnetic fields high in the corona is largely independent of the degree of field concentration at the surface. Therefore, a highly concentrated surface field or a dipolar field yield similar coronal fields. We apply the analytical MHD wind model of Lima et al. (2001) to determine the influence of the surface flux distribution on the efficiency of the magnetic braking. This model has the desirable properties of allowing different surface fields and, by construction, avoiding the expansion of the polar field to low latitudes. We determine the angular momentum loss rate for different surface field distributions, which have the same total magnetic flux. As the field concentration towards the pole increases, the angular momentum loss increases, contrary to what one would naively expect! This is explained by the fact that a decrease in the mass loss rate is compensated by an increase in the angular momentum loss per unit mass. Our results clearly show that the density, pressure, velocity and toroidal magnetic field variations are as important as the surface field distribution in determining the angular momentum carried by the wind. Further research is required to determine whether our results are a consequence of the particular models considered or can be regarded as a general feature.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Is the efficiency of magnetic braking limited by polar spots? does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Is the efficiency of magnetic braking limited by polar spots?, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Is the efficiency of magnetic braking limited by polar spots? will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1469479

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.