Ionization in atmospheres of brown dwarfs and extrasolar planets III. Breakdown conditions for mineral clouds

Electric discharges were detected directly in the cloudy atmospheres of Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn, are debatable for Venus, and indirectly inferred for Neptune and Uranus in our solar system. Sprites (and other types of transient luminous events) have been detected only on Earth, and are theoretically predicted for Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus. Cloud formation is a common phenomenon in ultra-cool atmospheres such as in brown dwarf and extrasolar planetary atmospheres. Cloud particles can be expected to carry considerable charges which may trigger discharge events via small-scale processes between individual cloud particles (intra-cloud discharges) or large-scale processes between clouds (inter-cloud discharges). We investigate electrostatic breakdown characteristics, like critical field strengths and critical charge densities per surface, to demonstrate under which conditions mineral clouds undergo electric discharge events which may trigger or be responsible for sporadic X-ray emission. We apply results from our kinetic dust cloud formation model that is part of the Drift-Phoenix model atmosphere simulations. We present a first investigation of the dependence of the breakdown conditions in brown dwarf and giant gas exoplanets on the local gas-phase chemistry, the effective temperature, and primordial gas-phase metallicity. Our results suggest that different intra-cloud discharge processes dominate at different heights inside mineral clouds: local coronal (point discharges) and small-scale sparks at the bottom region of the cloud where the gas density is high, and flow discharges and large-scale sparks near, and maybe above, the cloud top. The comparison of the thermal degree of ionization and the number density of cloud particles allows us to suggest the efficiency with which discharges will occur in planetary atmospheres.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Reduced-Complexity Maximum-Likelihood Detection in Downlink SDMA Systems

The literature of up-link SDMA systems is rich, but at the time of writing there is a paucity of information on the employment of SDMA techniques in the down-link. Hence, in this paper a Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA) down-link (DL) multi-user communication system invoking a novel low-complexity Maximum Likelihood (ML) space-time detection technique is proposed, which can be regarded as an advanced extension of the Complex Sphere Decoder (CSD). We demonstrate that as opposed to the previously published variants of the CSD, the proposed technique may be employed for obtaining a high effective throughput in the so-called “over-loaded” scenario, where the number of transmit antennas exceeds that of the receive antennas. The proposed method achieves the optimum performance of the ML detector even in heavily over-loaded scenarios, while the associated computational complexity is only moderately increased. As an illustrative example, the required Eb/N0 increased from 2 dB to 9 dB, when increasing the normalized system load from unity, representing the fully loaded system, to a normalized load of 1.556

Steady models for magnetic reconnection

Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental physical process by which stored magnetic energy may be released. It is already known that different reconnection regimes result from changes in the nature of the plasma inflow towards the reconnection site. In this thesis, we examine both how the outflow region responds to changes both in the inflow and outflow boundary conditions and also how introducing compressibility affects the results. We find that if the inflow is converging, the outflow velocity is least, the width of the outflow region is greatest and the ratio of outflowing thermal to kinetic energy is greatest. Also, there is one free outflow parameter which would naturally be specified by the velocity of plasma leaving the reconnection site. We suggest that reverse currents seen in numerical simulations may result from the specification of an extra boundary condition. In addition, we find that the main effects of including compressibility are: to enhance convergence or divergence of the inflow; to increase the maximum reconnection rate where the inflow is converging; to increase the flow speed near the reconnection site where the inflow is diverging; to give faster, narrower outflow jets; to increase variations between regimes in the energy conversion and to increase the ratio of thermal to kinetic energy in the outflow jet

The contribution of starspots to coronal structure

Significant progress has been made recently in our understanding of the structure of stellar magnetic fields, thanks to advances in detection methods such as Zeeman-Doppler Imaging. The extrapolation of this surface magnetic field into the corona has provided 3D models of the coronal magnetic field and plasma. This method is sensitive mainly to the magnetic field in the bright regions of the stellar surface. The dark (spotted) regions are censored because the Zeeman signature there is suppressed. By modelling the magnetic field that might have been contained in these spots, we have studied the effect that this loss of information might have on our understanding of the coronal structure. As examples, we have chosen two stars (V374 peg and AB Dor) that have very different magnetograms and patterns of spot coverage. We find that the effect of the spot field depends not only on the relative amount of flux in the spots, but also its distribution across the stellar surface. For a star such as AB Dor with a high spot coverage and a large polar spot, at its greatest effect the spot field may almost double the fraction of the flux that is open (hence decreasing the spindown time) while at the same time increasing the X-ray emission measure by two orders of magnitude and significantly affecting the X-ray rotational modulation.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figure

Estimating stellar wind parameters from low-resolution magnetograms

Funding: UK Science and Technology Facilities Funding Council (STFC).Stellar winds govern the angular momentum evolution of solar-like stars throughout their main-sequence lifetime. The efficiency of this process depends on the geometry of the star's magnetic field. There has been a rapid increase recently in the number of stars for which this geometry can be determined through spectropolarimetry. We present a computationally efficient method to determine the 3D geometry of the stellar wind and to estimate the mass-loss rate and angular momentum loss rate based on these observations. Using solar magnetograms as examples, we quantify the extent to which the values obtained are affected by the limited spatial resolution of stellar observations. We find that for a typical stellar surface resolution of 20o–30o, predicted wind speeds are within 5 per cent of the value at full resolution. Mass-loss rates and angular momentum loss rates are within 5–20 per cent. In contrast, the predicted X-ray emission measures can be underestimated by one-to-two orders of magnitude, and their rotational modulations by 10–20 per cent.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Influence of magnetic cycles on stellar prominences and their mass loss rates

Funding: The authors acknowledge support from STFC consolidated grant number ST/R000824/1.Observations of rapidly-rotating cool stars often show coronal “slingshot” prominences that remove mass and angular momentum when they are ejected. The derived masses of these prominences show a scatter of some two orders of magnitude. In order to investigate if this scatter could be intrinsic, we use a full magnetic cycle of solar magnetograms to model the coronal structure and prominence distribution in a young Sun, where we scale the field strength in the magnetograms with angular velocity according to B∝Ω−1.32. We reproduce both the observed prominence masses and their scatter. We show that both the field strength and the field geometry contribute to the prominence masses that can be supported and to the rate at which they are ejected. Predicted prominence masses follow the magnetic cycle, but with half the period, peaking both at cycle maximum and at cycle minimum. We show that mass loss rates in prominences are less than those predicted for the stellar wind. We also investigate the role of small-scale field that may be unresolved in typical stellar magnetograms. This provides only a small reduction in the predicted total prominence mass, principally by reducing the number of large magnetic loops that can support slingshot prominences. We conclude that the observed scatter in prominence masses can be explained by underlying magnetic cycles.PostprintPeer reviewe

Modelling stellar coronal magnetic fields

Our understanding of the structure and dynamics of stellar coronae has changed dramatically with the availability of surface maps of both star spots and also magnetic field vectors. Magnetic field extrapolations from these surface maps reveal surprising coronal structures for stars whose masses and hence internal structures and dynamo modes may be very different from that of the Sun. Crucial factors are the fraction of open magnetic flux (which determines the spin-down rate for the star as it ages) and the location and plasma density of closed-field regions, which determine the X-ray and radio emission properties. There has been recent progress in modelling stellar coronae, in particular the relative contributions of the field detected in the bright surface regions and the field that may be hidden in the dark star spots. For the Sun, the relationship between the field in the spots and the large scale field is well studied over the solar cycle. It appears, however, that other stars can show a very different relationship.Comment: 6pages, 4 figure

Heating and cooling in stellar coronae: coronal rain on a young Sun

Recent observations of rapidly-rotating cool dwarfs have revealed H$\alpha$ line asymmetries indicative of clumps of cool, dense plasma in the stars' coronae. These clumps may be either long-lived (persisting for more than one stellar rotation) or dynamic. The fastest dynamic features show velocities greater than the escape speed, suggesting that they may be centrifugally ejected from the star, contributing to the stellar angular momentum loss. Many however show lower velocities, similar to coronal rain observed on the Sun. We present 2.5D magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the formation and dynamics of these condensations in a rapidly rotating ($P_{\rm rot}~=~ 1 \ \mathrm{day}$) young Sun. Formation is triggered by excess surface heating. This pushes the system out of thermal equilibrium and triggers a thermal instability. The resulting condensations fall back towards the surface. They exhibit quasi-periodic behaviour, with periods longer than typical periods for solar coronal rain. We find line-of-sight velocities for these clumps in the range $50 \ \mathrm{km} \ \mathrm{s}^{-1}$ (blue shifted) to $250 \ \mathrm{km} \ \mathrm{s}^{-1}$(red shifted). These are typical of those inferred from stellar H$\alpha$line asymmetries, but the inferred clump masses of$3.6\times 10^{14}\ \mathrm{g}$are significantly smaller. We find that a maximum of$\simeq~3\%$ of the coronal mass is cool clumps. We conclude that coronal rain may be common in solar like stars, but may appear on much larger scales in rapid rotators.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Heating and cooling in stellar coronae: coronal rain on a young Sun

Funding: SD-Y and MJ acknowledge support from STFC consolidated grant number ST/R000824/1. This work was performed using the DiRAC Data Intensive service at Leicester, operated by the University of Leicester IT Services, which forms part of the STFC DiRAC HPC Facility (www.dirac.ac.uk). The equipment was funded by BEIS capital funding via STFC capital grants ST/K000373/1 and ST/R002363/1 and STFC DiRAC Operations grant ST/R001014/1. DiRAC is part of the National e-Infrastructure. CDJ acknowledges support from the NASA GSFC Internal Scientist Funding Model (competitive work package) programme.Recent observations of rapidly rotating cool dwarfs have revealed H α line asymmetries indicative of clumps of cool, dense plasma in the stars’ coronae. These clumps may be either long-lived (persisting for more than one stellar rotation) or dynamic. The fastest dynamic features show velocities greater than the escape speed, suggesting that they may be centrifugally ejected from the star, contributing to the stellar angular momentum loss. Many, however, show lower velocities, similar to coronal rain observed on the Sun. We present 2.5D magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the formation and dynamics of these condensations in a rapidly rotating (Prot = 1 d) young Sun. Formation is triggered by excess surface heating. This pushes the system out of thermal equilibrium and triggers a thermal instability. The resulting condensations fall back towards the surface. They exhibit quasi-periodic behaviour, with periods longer than typical periods for solar coronal rain. We find line-of-sight velocities for these clumps in the range of 50 km s−1 (blueshifted) to 250 km s−1 (redshifted). These are typical of those inferred from stellar H α line asymmetries, but the inferred clump masses of 3.6 × 1014 g are significantly smaller. We find that a maximum of ${\simeq}3~{{ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the coronal mass is cool clumps. We conclude that coronal rain may be common in solar-like stars, but may appear on much larger scales in rapid rotators.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

X-ray Emission From Nearby M-dwarfs: the Super-saturation Phenomenon

A rotation rate and X-ray luminosity analysis is presented for rapidly rotating single and binary M-dwarf systems. X-ray luminosities for the majority of both single & binary M-dwarf systems with periods below $\simeq 5-6$ days (equatorial velocities, V$_{eq}>$ 6 km~s$^{-1}$) are consistent with the current rotation-activity paradigm, and appear to saturate at about $10^{-3}$ of the stellar bolometric luminosity. The single M-dwarf data show tentative evidence for the super-saturation phenomenon observed in some ultra-fast rotating ($>$ 100 km~s$^{-1}$) G & K-dwarfs in the IC 2391, IC 2602 and Alpha Persei clusters. The IC 2391 M star VXR60b is the least X-ray active and most rapidly rotating of the short period (P$_{rot}<$ 2 days) stars considered herein, with a period of 0.212 days and an X-ray activity level about 1.5 sigma below the mean X-ray emission level for most of the single M-dwarf sample. For this star, and possibly one other, we cautiously believe that we have identified the first evidence of super-saturation in M-dwarfs. If we are wrong, we demonstrate that only M-dwarfs rotating close to their break up velocities are likely to exhibit the super-saturation effect at X-ray wavelengths.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, accepted by MNRA