981 research outputs found
Differential Rotation and Magnetism in Simulations of Fully Convective Stars
Stars of sufficiently low mass are convective throughout their interiors, and
so do not possess an internal boundary layer akin to the solar tachocline.
Because that interface figures so prominently in many theories of the solar
magnetic dynamo, a widespread expectation had been that fully convective stars
would exhibit surface magnetic behavior very different from that realized in
more massive stars. Here I describe how recent observations and theoretical
models of dynamo action in low-mass stars are partly confirming, and partly
confounding, this basic expectation. In particular, I present the results of
3--D MHD simulations of dynamo action by convection in rotating spherical
shells that approximate the interiors of 0.3 solar-mass stars at a range of
rotation rates. The simulated stars can establish latitudinal differential
rotation at their surfaces which is solar-like at ``rapid'' rotation rates
(defined within) and anti-solar at slower rotation rates; the differential
rotation is greatly reduced by feedback from strong dynamo-generated magnetic
fields in some parameter regimes. I argue that this ``flip'' in the sense of
differential rotation may be observable in the near future. I also briefly
describe how the strength and morphology of the magnetic fields varies with the
rotation rate of the simulated star, and show that the maximum magnetic
energies attained are compatible with simple scaling arguments.Comment: 9 pages, 2 color figures, to appear in Proc. IAU Symposium 271,
"Astrophysical Dynamics: from Stars to Galaxies
Formation of starspots in self-consistent global dynamo models: Polar spots on cool stars
Observations of cool stars reveal dark spot-like features on their surfaces.
Compared to sunspots, starspots can be bigger or cover a larger fraction of the
stellar surface. While sunspots appear only at low latitudes, starspots are
also found in polar regions, in particular on rapidly rotating stars. Sunspots
are believed to result from the eruption of magnetic flux-tubes rising from the
deep interior of the Sun. The strong magnetic field locally reduces convective
heat transport to the solar surface. Such flux-tube models have also been
invoked to explain starspot properties. However, these models use several
simplifications and so far the generation of either sunspots or starspots has
not been demonstrated in a self-consistent simulation of stellar magnetic
convection. Here we show that direct numerical simulations of a distributed
dynamo operating in a density-stratified rotating spherical shell can
spontaneously generate cool spots. Convection in the interior of the model
produces a large scale magnetic field which interacts with near surface
granular convection leading to strong concentrations of magnetic flux and
formation of starspots. Prerequisites for the formation of sizeable
high-latitude spots in the model are sufficiently strong density stratification
and rapid rotation. Our model presents an alternate mechanism for starspot
formation by distributed dynamo action.Comment: 14 pages; Important additions in version 2; To appear in A&
Detecting Planets Around Very Low Mass Stars with the Radial Velocity Method
The detection of planets around very low-mass stars with the radial velocity
method is hampered by the fact that these stars are very faint at optical
wavelengths where the most high-precision spectrometers operate. We investigate
the precision that can be achieved in radial velocity measurements of low mass
stars in the near infrared (nIR) Y-, J-, and H-bands, and we compare it to the
precision achievable in the optical. For early-M stars, radial velocity
measurements in the nIR offer no or only marginal advantage in comparison to
optical measurements. Although they emit more flux in the nIR, the richness of
spectral features in the optical outweighs the flux difference. We find that
nIR measurement can be as precise than optical measurements in stars of
spectral type ~M4, and from there the nIR gains in precision towards cooler
objects. We studied potential calibration strategies in the nIR finding that a
stable spectrograph with a ThAr calibration can offer enough wavelength
stability for m/s precision. Furthermore, we simulate the wavelength-dependent
influence of activity (cool spots) on radial velocity measurements from optical
to nIR wavelengths. Our spot simulations reveal that the radial velocity jitter
does not decrease as dramatically towards longer wavelengths as often thought.
The jitter strongly depends on the details of the spots, i.e., on spot
temperature and the spectral appearance of the spot. Forthcoming nIR
spectrographs will allow the search for planets with a particular advantage in
mid- and late-M stars. Activity will remain an issue, but simultaneous
observations at optical and nIR wavelengths can provide strong constraints on
spot properties in active stars.Comment: accepted by ApJ, v2 accepted revision with new precision
calculations, abstract abride
From solar-like to anti-solar differential rotation in cool stars
Stellar differential rotation can be separated into two main regimes:
solar-like when the equator rotates faster than the poles and anti-solar when
the polar regions rotate faster than the equator. We investigate the transition
between these two regimes with 3-D numerical simulations of rotating spherical
shells. We conduct a systematic parameter study which also includes models from
different research groups. We find that the direction of the differential
rotation is governed by the contribution of the Coriolis force in the force
balance, independently of the model setup (presence of a magnetic field,
thickness of the convective layer, density stratification). Rapidly-rotating
cases with a small Rossby number yield solar-like differential rotation, while
weakly-rotating models sustain anti-solar differential rotation. Close to the
transition, the two kinds of differential rotation are two possible bistable
states. This study provides theoretical support for the existence of anti-solar
differential rotation in cool stars with large Rossby numbers.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Solving mazes with memristors: a massively-parallel approach
Solving mazes is not just a fun pastime. Mazes are prototype models in graph theory, topology, robotics, traffic optimization, psychology, and in many other areas of science and technology. However, when maze complexity increases their solution becomes cumbersome and very time consuming. Here, we show that a network of memristors - resistors with memory - can solve such a non-trivial problem quite easily. In particular, maze solving by the network of memristors occurs in a massively parallel fashion since all memristors in the network participate simultaneously in the calculation. The result of the calculation is then recorded into the memristors’ states, and can be used and/or recovered at a later time. Furthermore, the network of memristors finds all possible solutions in multiple-solution mazes, and sorts out the solution paths according to their length. Our results demonstrate not only the first application of memristive networks to the field of massively-parallel computing, but also a novel algorithm to solve mazes which could find applications in different research fields
On detectability of Zeeman broadening in optical spectra of F- and G-dwarfs
We investigate the detectability of Zeeman broadening in optical Stokes I
spectra of slowly rotating sun-like stars. To this end, we apply the LTE
spectral line inversion package SPINOR to very-high quality CES data and
explore how fit quality depends on the average magnetic field, Bf .
One-component (OC) and two-component (TC) models are adopted. In OC models, the
entire surface is assumed to be magnetic. Under this assumption, we determine
formal 3{\sigma} upper limits on the average magnetic field of 200 G for the
Sun, and 150 G for 61 Vir (G6V). Evidence for an average magnetic field of ~
500 G is found for 59 Vir (G0V), and of ~ 1000 G for HD 68456 (F6V). A
distinction between magnetic and non-magnetic regions is made in TC models,
while assuming a homogeneous distribution of both components. In our TC
inversions of 59 Vir, we investigate three cases: both components have equal
temperatures; warm magnetic regions; cool magnetic regions. Our TC model with
equal temperatures does not yield significant improvement over OC inversions
for 59 Vir. The resulting Bf values are consistent for both. Fit quality is
significantly improved, however, by using two components of different
temperatures. The inversions for 59 Vir that assume different temperatures for
the two components yield results consistent with 0 - 450 G at the formal
3{\sigma} confidence level. We thus find a model dependence of our analysis and
demonstrate that the influence of an additional temperature component can
dominate over the Zeeman broadening signature, at least in optical data.
Previous comparable analyses that neglected effects due to multiple temperature
components may be prone to the same ambiguities.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Multi-wavelength observations of Proxima Centauri
We report simultaneous observations of the nearby flare star Proxima Centauri
with VLT/UVES and XMM-Newton over three nights in March 2009. Our optical and
X-ray observations cover the star's quiescent state, as well as its flaring
activity and allow us to probe the stellar atmospheric conditions from the
photosphere into the chromosphere, and then the corona during its different
activity stages. Using the X-ray data, we investigate variations in coronal
densities and abundances and infer loop properties for an intermediate-sized
flare. The optical data are used to investigate the magnetic field and its
possible variability, to construct an emission line list for the chromosphere,
and use certain emission lines to construct physical models of Proxima
Centauri's chromosphere.
We report the discovery of a weak optical forbidden Fe xiii line at 3388 AA
during the more active states of Proxima Centauri. For the intermediate flare,
we find two secondary flare events that may originate in neighbouring loops,
and discuss the line asymmetries observed during this flare in H i, He i, and
Ca ii lines. The high time-resolution in the H alpha line highlights strong
temporal variations in the observed line asymmetries, which re-appear during a
secondary flare event. We also present theoretical modelling with the stellar
atmosphere code PHOENIX to construct flaring chromospheric models.Comment: 19 pages, 22 figures, accepted by A&
Electron Beam Testing of Passivated Devices via Capacitive Coupling Voltage Contrast
By fundamental experiments and theoretical treatments a detailed understanding of the capacitive coupling voltage contrast {CCVC) has been gained, demonstrating that this technique is, in principle, applicable to a non-destructive testing of passivated integrated circuits (IC) by means of electron beams. In fact, however, several problems have to be eliminated in order to introduce this testing technique into a production line procedure.
In a first step, preconditions have to be met. These are a primary electron (PE) energy where the electron yield is greater than one and a sufficiently low extraction field above the IC. Secondly, as CCVC vanishes within a certain time span caused by charge compensation during electron irradiation, several precautions have to be undertaken. To obtain unfalsified CCVC-micrographs a fast image recording and processing system has to be realized; for IC-internal waveform measurements suitable sampling electronics have to be developed. Besides this, the resulting measurement errors are classified and determined. These are the error due to charge compensation on the passivation layer during electron irradiation, the error due to an incomplete coupling of the line potential to the passivation surface and the error due to capacitive coupling cross talk from neighboring lines
On the kinematic age of brown dwarfs: Radial velocities and space motions of 43 nearby L dwarfs
We present radial velocity measurements of a sample of L0-L8 dwarfs observed
with VLT/UVES and Keck/HIRES. We combine these measurements with distance and
proper motion from the literature to determine space motions for 43 of our
targets. We identify nine candidate members of young moving groups, which have
ages of 50-600 Myr according to their space motion. From the total velocity
dispersion of the 43 L dwarfs, we calculate a kinematic age of ~5 Gyr for our
sample. This age is significantly higher than the ~3 Gyr age known for late M
dwarfs in the solar neighbourhood. We find that the distributions of the U and
V velocity components of our sample are clearly non-Gaussian, placing the age
estimate inferred from the full space motion vector into question. The
W-component exhibits a distribution more consistent with a normal distribution,
and from W alone we derive an age of ~3 Gyr, which is the same age found for
late-M dwarf samples. Our brightness-limited sample is probably contaminated by
a number of outliers that predominantly bias the U and V velocity components.
The origin of the outliers remain unclear, but we suggest that these brown
dwarfs may have gained their high velocities by means of ejection from multiple
systems during their formation.Comment: 8 pages, accepted for publication in A&
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