The unique dynamical system underlying RR Lyrae pulsations

Hydrodynamic models of RR Lyrae pulsation display a very rich behaviour. Contrary to earlier expectations, high order resonances play a crucial role in the nonlinear dynamics representing the interacting modes. Chaotic attractors can be found at different time scales: both in the pulsation itself and in the amplitude equations shaping the possible modulation of the oscillations. Although there is no one-to-one connection between the nonlinear features found in the numerical models and the observed behaviour, the richness of the found phenomena suggests that the interaction of modes should be taken seriously in the study of the still unsolved puzzle of Blazhko effect. One of the main lessons of this complex system is that we should rethink the simple interpretation of the observed effect of resonances.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, RRL2015 - High-Precision Studies of RR Lyrae Stars, Eds: Szabados, Szab\'o and Kinemuchi, in pres

Nonlinear Properties of the Semiregular Variable Stars

We demonstrate how, with a purely empirical analysis of the irregular lightcurve data, one can extract a great deal of information about the stellar pulsation mechanism. An application to R Sct thus shows that the irregular lightcurve is the result of the nonlinear interaction of two highly nonadiabatic pulsation modes, namely a linearly unstable, low frequency mode, and the second mode that, although linearly stable, gets entrained through a 2:1 resonance. In the parlance of nonlinear dynamics the pulsation is the result of a 4 dimensional chaotic dynamics.Comment: 8 pages to appear in "Mass-Losing Pulsating Stars and Their Circumstellar Matter", Eds. Y. Nakada & M.Honma, ASSL Ser. (in press). a version with better quality figures is available from http://www.phys.ufl.edu/~buchler

The double-mode RR Lyrae variable BS Com

We present the frequency analysis of the multicolour time series photometry of the field RRd variable BS Comae. The large number of data points in each of the BV(RI)_c bands and the ~0.01 magnitude accuracy of the individual measurements allow us a high precision analysis of the properties of the combination frequencies due to nonlinear coupling. Through the combination of the frequency spectra in different colors we show that except for the components corresponding to the linear combinations of the two pulsation modes, there are no other components present above the millimagnitude amplitude level.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A

Nagymennyiségű változócsillagászati észlelések feldolgozása és analízise = Reduction and analysis of large-scale variable star data sets

A következő három fő témakört vizsgáltuk: (a) periodikus tranzit detektálás és extraszolaris bolygók vizsgálata a HATNet es a WHAT automata távcsövek észlelései alapján; (b) a MACHO adatbázis RR Lyrae csillagainak periódus analízise; (c) pulzáló változócsillagok elméleti és empirikus vizsgálata. A következő eredményeket kaptuk. Téma (a): kis apertúrájú, teljesen automatizált távcsövek alkalmasak néhány millimagnitúdó pontosságú észlelésekre és forró Jupiterek (HJ-k) detektálására; a BLS algoritmusunk hatásos eszköz periodikus tranzitok keresésében; az adatfeldolgozás miatt fellépő szisztematikák kiszűrésének hatékony eszköze a TFA algoritmusunk; a HD 189733 HJ rendszer valójában egy hármas rendszer, K fő- es M másod-komponensekkel, valamint a főkomponens körül keringő bolygóval. Téma (b): az LMC-ben található alapmódusú RR Lyrae csillagok 12%-a mutat Blashko jelenséget. Ez az érték szignifikánsan magasabb, mint az újabb analizisünk alapján az első felhangú csillagokra kapott gyakoriság, amely a rendelkezésre álló adatok felhasználásával 7.5%-nak adódott. Téma (c): nincs ellentmondás az RR Lyrae és a Cepheida változók alapján a Baade-Wesselink módszer segítségével számított távolságok között. Az LMC távolságára konzisztens értékeket kaptunk; több irreguláris változó fénygörbéjének analizálása alapján további megerősítést kaptunk ezen csillagok kaotikus pulzációjára. | We have investigated the following three major topics: (a) periodic transit detection and extrasolar planetary studies based on large-scale photometric databases of the HATNet and WHAT automated telescopes; (b) frequency analysis of RR Lyrae stars in the MACHO database; (c) theoretical and empirical stellar pulsation studies. We obtained the following results. Topic (a): small aperture fully automated telescopes are able to gather few millimag precision photometric data and detect transits caused by hot Jupiters; our BLS algorithm is very efficient in searching for periodic transits; the effects of systematics due to errors in the data acquisition can be successfully filtered by our TFA algorithm; the hot Jupiter system HD 189733 is a triple system with a K primary and M secondary and the planet orbiting the primary. Topic (b): the incidence rate of the Blazhko stars pulsating in the fundamental mode is 12% in the LMC. This is significantly higher than that of the first overtone Blazhko stars (which is 7.5%, according to our new analysis of all available data. Topic (c): there is no contradiction between the distances derived by Baade-Wesselink analyses of RR Lyrae and Cepheid variables and they both yield consistent distances for the LMC; by analyzing the archival data of several irregular variables, we got further support for the presence of chaotic pulsations in these stars

Automated Nonlinear Stellar Pulsation Calculations: Applications to RR Lyrae stars. The Slope of the Fundamental Blue Edge and the First RRd Model Survey

We describe a methodology that allows us to follow the pulsational behavior of an RR Lyrae model consistently and automatically along its evolutionary track throughout the whole instability strip. It is based on the powerful amplitude equation formalism, and resorts to a judicious combination of numerical hydrodynamical simulations, the analytical signal time-series analysis, and amplitude equations. A large-scale survey of the nonlinear pulsations in RR Lyr instability strip is then presented, and the mode selection mechanism is delineated throughout the relevant regions of parameter space. We obtain and examine two regions with hysteresis, where the pulsational state depends on the direction of the evolutionary tracks, namely a region with either fundamental (RRab) or first overtone (RRc) pulsations and a region with either fundamental (RRab) or double-mode (RRd) pulsations. The regions where stable double-mode (DM, or RRd) pulsations occur are very narrow and hard to find in astrophysical parameter (L, M, T_eff, X, Z) space with hydrodynamic simulations, but our systematic and efficient methodology allows us to investigate them with unprecedented detail. It is shown that by simultaneously considering the effects of mode selection and of horizontal branch evolution we can naturally solve one of the extant puzzles involving the topologies of the theoretical and observed instability strips, namely the slope of the fundamental blue edge. The importance of the interplay between mode selection and stellar evolutionary effects is also demonstrated for the properties of double-mode RR Lyr. Finally, the Petersen diagram of double-mode RR Lyr models is discussed for the first time.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, accepted to be published in A&

Sixteenth century stove tiles from the main square of Pápa, Western Hungary

Stove tile fragments came to light during the excavations at the Main Square (Fő tér) in the town of Pápa (HU, Veszprém County) from a closed find assemblage dated to the 16th century. Their decoration could be identified as biblical and profane scenes. This article is aimed examining the origins and connections of these good quality pieces and their historical context at the beginning of the age of Reformation

Multiple and changing cycles of active stars I. Methods of analysis and application to the solar cycles

Long-term observational data have information on the magnetic cycles of active stars and that of the Sun. The changes in the activity of our central star have basic effects on Earth, like variations in the global climate. Therefore understanding the nature of these variations is extremely important. The observed variations related to magnetic activity cannot be treated as stationary periodic variations, therefore methods like Fourier transform or different versions of periodogramms give only partial information on the nature of the light variability. We demonstrate that time-frequency distributions provide useful tools for analyzing the observations of active stars. With test data we demonstrate that the observational noise has practically no effect on the determination in the the long-term changes of time-series observations of active stars. The rotational signal may modify the determined cycles, therefore it is advisable to remove it from the data. Wavelets are less powerful in recovering complex long-term changes than other distributions which are discussed. Applying our technique to the sunspot data we find a complicated, multi-scale evolution in the solar activity.Comment: Accepted to Astronomy and Astrophysic