1,308 research outputs found
Investigating the pre-main sequence magnetic chemically peculiar system HD 72106
The origin of the strong magnetic fields observed in chemically peculiar Ap
and Bp stars stars has long been debated. The recent discovery of magnetic
fields in the intermediate mass pre-main sequence Herbig Ae and Be stars links
them to Ap and Bp stars, providing vital clues about Ap and Bp stars and the
origin and evolution of magnetic fields in intermediate and high mass stars. A
detailed study of one young magnetic B star, HD 72106A, is presented. This star
appears to be in a binary system with an apparently normal Herbig Ae star. A
maximum longitudinal magnetic field strength of +391 +/- 65 G is found in HD
72106A, as are strong chemical peculiarities, with photospheric abundances of
some elements ranging up to 100x above solar.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. Proceeding of the 2006 conference of the Special
Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Science
Detection of ultra-weak magnetic fields in Am stars: beta UMa and theta Leo
An extremely weak circularly polarized signature was recently discovered in
spectral lines of the chemically peculiar Am star Sirius A. A weak surface
magnetic field was proposed to account for the observed polarized signal, but
the shape of the phase-averaged signature, dominated by a prominent positive
lobe, is not expected in the standard theory of the Zeeman effect. We aim at
verifying the presence of weak circularly polarized signatures in two other
bright Am stars, beta UMa and theta Leo, and investigating the physical origin
of Sirius-like polarized signals further. We present here a set of deep
spectropolarimetric observations of beta UMa and theta Leo, observed with the
NARVAL spectropolarimeter. We analyzed all spectra with the Least Squares
Deconvolution multiline procedure. To improve the signal-to-noise ratio and
detect extremely weak signatures in Stokes V profiles, we co-added all
available spectra of each star (around 150 observations each time). Finally, we
ran several tests to evaluate whether the detected signatures are consistent
with the behavior expected from the Zeeman effect. The line profiles of the two
stars display circularly polarized signatures similar in shape and amplitude to
the observations previously gathered for Sirius A. Our series of tests brings
further evidence of a magnetic origin of the recorded signal. These new
detections suggest that very weak magnetic fields may well be present in the
photospheres of a significant fraction of intermediate-mass stars. The strongly
asymmetric Zeeman signatures measured so far in Am stars (featuring a dominant
single-sign lobe) are not expected in the standard theory of the Zeeman effect
and may be linked to sharp vertical gradients in photospheric velocities and
magnetic field strengths
Investigation of the magnetic field characteristics of Herbig Ae/Be stars: Discovery of the pre-main sequence progenitors of the magnetic Ap/Bp stars
We are investigating the magnetic characteristics of pre-main sequence Herbig
Ae/Be stars, with the aim of (1) understanding the origin and evolution of
magnetism in intermediate-mass stars, and (2) exploring the influence of
magnetic fields on accretion, rotation and mass-loss at the early stages of
evolution of A, B and O stars. We have begun by conducting 2 large surveys of
Herbig Ae/Be stars, searching for direct evidence of photospheric magnetic
fields via the longitudinal Zeeman effect. From observations obtained using
FORS1 at the ESO-VLT and ESPaDOnS at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, we
report the confirmed detection of magnetic fields in 4 pre-main sequence A- and
B-type stars, and the apparent (but as yet unconfirmed) detection of fields in
2 other such stars. We do not confirm the detection of magnetic fields in
several stars reported by other authors to be magnetic: HD 139614, HD 144432 or
HD 31649. One of the most evolved stars in the detected sample, HD 72106A,
shows clear evidence of strong photospheric chemical peculiarity, whereas many
of the other (less evolved) stars do not. The magnetic fields that we detect
appear to have surface intensities of order 1 kG, seem to be structured on
global scales, and appear in about 10% of the stars studied. Based on these
properties, these magnetic stars appear to be pre-main sequence progenitors of
the magnetic Ap/Bp stars.Comment: v2: Include comment regarding publication source To appear in the
proceedings of "Solar Polarisation 4", held in Boulder, USA, Sept. 200
Magnetism in pre-MS intermediate-mass stars and the fossil field hypothesis
Today, one of the greatest challenges concerning the Ap/Bp stars is to
understand the origin of their slow rotation and their magnetic fields. The
favoured hypothesis for the latter is the fossil field, which implies that the
magnetic fields subsist throughout the different evolutionary phases, and in
particular during the pre-main sequence phase. The existence of magnetic fields
at the pre-main sequence phase is also required to explain the slow rotation of
Ap/Bp stars. However, until recently, essentially no information was available
about the magnetic properties of intermediate-mass pre-main sequence stars, the
so-called Herbig Ae/Be stars. The new high-resolution spectropolarimeter
ESPaDOnS, installed in 2005 at the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope, provided the
capability necessary to perform surveys of the Herbig Ae/Be stars in order to
investigate their magnetism and rotation. These investigations have resulted in
the detection and/or confirmation of magnetic fields in 8 Herbig Ae/Be stars,
ranging in mass from 2 to nearly 15 solar masses. In this contribution I will
present the results of our survey, as well as their implications for the origin
and evolution of the magnetic fields and rotation.Comment: Proceedings of the CP#AP Workshop held in Vienna in September 200
On the dual nature of partial theta functions and Appell-Lerch sums
In recent work, Hickerson and the author demonstrated that it is useful to
think of Appell--Lerch sums as partial theta functions. This notion can be used
to relate identities involving partial theta functions with identities
involving Appell--Lerch sums. In this sense, Appell--Lerch sums and partial
theta functions appear to be dual to each other. This duality theory is not
unlike that found by Andrews between various sets of identities of
Rogers-Ramanujan type with respect to Baxter's solution to the hard hexagon
model of statistical mechanics. As an application we construct bilateral
-series with mixed mock modular behaviour.Comment: To be published in Advances in Mathematic
Hecke-type double sums, Appell-Lerch sums, and mock theta functions (I)
By developing a connection between partial theta functions and Appell-Lerch
sums, we find and prove a formula which expresses Hecke-type double sums in
terms of Appell-Lerch sums and theta functions. Not only does our formula prove
classical Hecke-type double sum identities such as those found in work Kac and
Peterson on affine Lie Algebras and Hecke modular forms, but once we have the
Hecke-type forms for Ramanujan's mock theta functions our formula gives
straightforward proofs of many of the classical mock theta function identities.
In particular, we obtain a new proof of the mock theta conjectures. Our formula
also applies to positive-level string functions associated with admissable
representations of the affine Lie Algebra as introduced by Kac and
Wakimoto
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