Modeling Rotational Evolution of Young T Tauri Stars

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Scientific paper

Measurements of rotational periods of pre-main sequence stars in several young open clusters reveal a uniform trend. Stars with masses below 0.25 solar show a bimodal period distribution with fast and slow rotators clustered around 2 day and 8 day periods, respectively, while the period distribution of low-mass stars lacks the slow rotating component. In one popular interpretation of this observational result the slow rotators are identified with the "disk locked'' stars whose periods are fixed to the orbital periods at the inner edge of the accretion disk; the fast rotators are then assumed to have lost their connection to the disk. We argue that this scenario can account for observations only if the mass accretion rate in the disk declines with time. We construct a simple model for the period evolution in T Tauri stars that includes realistic prescriptions for the mass accretion rate, radius evolution and a better treatment of the transition between strong and weak accretion disk coupling. Using this model to simulate period distribution for a young cluster, we can qualitatively reproduce the observed results, but only if the accretion is allowed to continue after the disk and the star are no longer locked. This work was supported by the grant from the Research Corporation.

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