Ref Arxiv: 2403.08590
Ref. & Cit.: NASA ADS
Abstract:

Dynamo models of stellar magnetic fields for partly and fully convective stars are guided by observational constraints. Zeeman-Doppler imaging has revealed a variety of magnetic field geometries and, for fully convective stars in particular, a dichotomy: either strong, mostly axisymmetric, and dipole-dominated or weak, non-axisymmetric, and multipole-dominated. This dichotomy is explained by dynamo bistability or by long-term magnetic cycles, but there is no definite conclusion on the matter. We analysed optical spectropolarimetric data sets collected with ESPaDOnS and Narval between 2005 and 2016, and near-infrared SPIRou data obtained between 2019 and 2022 for three active M dwarfs with masses between 0.1 and 0.6 MSun: EV Lac, DS Leo, and CN Leo. We looked for changes in time series of longitudinal magnetic field, width of unpolarised mean-line profiles, and large-scale field topology as retrieved with principal component analysis and Zeeman-Doppler imaging. We retrieved pulsating (EV Lac), stable (DS Leo), and sine-like (CN Leo) long-term trends in longitudinal field. The width of near-infrared mean-line profiles exhibits rotational modulation only for DS Leo, whereas in the optical it is evident for both EV Lac and DS Leo. The line width variations are not necessarily correlated to those of the longitudinal field, suggesting complex relations between small- and large-scale field. We also recorded topological changes: a reduced axisymmetry for EV Lac and a transition from toroidal- to poloidal-dominated regime for DS Leo. For CN Leo, the topology remained dipolar and axisymmetric, with only an oscillation in field strength. Our results show a peculiar evolution of the magnetic field for each M dwarf, confirming that M dwarfs with distinct masses and rotation periods can undergo magnetic long-term variations, and suggesting a variety of cyclic behaviours of their magnetic fields.

Comments: 50 pages, 26 figures, 12 tables, accepted in Astronomy & Astrophysics

Ref Arxiv: 2402.01419
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stae383
Ref. & Cit.: NASA ADS
Abstract:

The accretion and ejection of mass in pre-main sequence (PMS) stars are key processes in stellar evolution as they shape the stellar angular momentum transport necessary for the stars' stability. Magnetospheric accretion onto classical T Tauri stars and low-mass PMS stars has been widely studied in the single-star case. This process can not be directly transferred to PMS binary systems, as tidal and gravitation effects, and/or accretion from a circumbinary disc (with variable separation of the components in the case of eccentric orbits) are in place. This work examines the accretion process of two PMS eccentric binaries, DQ Tau and AK Sco, using high-resolution spectropolarimetric time series. We investigate how magnetospheric accretion can be applied to these systems by studying the accretion-related emission lines and the magnetic field of each system. We discover that both systems are showing signs of magnetospheric accretion, despite their slightly different configurations, and the weak magnetic field of AK Sco. Furthermore, the magnetic topology of DQ Tau A shows a change relative to the previous orbital cycle studied: previously dominated by the poloidal component, it is now dominated by the toroidal component. We also report an increase of the component's accretion and the absence of an accretion burst at the apastron, suggesting that the component's magnetic variation might be the cause of the inter-cycle variations of the system's accretion. We conclude on the presence of magnetospheric accretion for both systems, together with gravitational effects, especially for AK Sco, composed of more massive components.

Comments: 21 pages, 24 figures. Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Ref HAL: hal-04414704_v1
DOI: 10.1039/d3cp03575a
Exporter : BibTex | endNote

Ref HAL: hal-04399760_v1
Ref Arxiv: 2312.12549
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202346949
Ref. & Cit.: NASA ADS
Exporter : BibTex | endNote

Ref Arxiv: 2311.05039
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stad3472
Ref. & Cit.: NASA ADS
Abstract:

In this paper, we study six slowly rotating mid-to-late M~dwarfs (rotation period $P_{\mathrm{rot}} \approx 40-190\,\mathrm{dy}$) by analysing spectropolarimetric data collected with SPIRou at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope as part of the SPIRou Legacy Survey from 2019 to 2022. From $\approx$100--200 Least-Squares-Deconvolved (LSD) profiles of circularly polarised spectra of each star, we confirm the stellar rotation periods of the six M~dwarfs and explore their large-scale magnetic field topology and its evolution with time using both the method based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) proposed recently and Zeeman-Doppler Imaging. All M~dwarfs show large-scale field variations on the time-scale of their rotation periods, directly seen from the circularly polarised LSD profiles using the PCA method. We detect a magnetic polarity reversal for the fully-convective M~dwarf GJ~1151, and a possible inversion in progress for Gl~905. The four fully-convective M~dwarfs of our small sample (Gl~905, GJ~1289, GJ~1151, GJ~1286) show a larger amount of temporal variations (mainly in field strength and axisymmetry) than the two partly-convective ones (Gl~617B, Gl~408). Surprisingly, the six M~dwarfs show large-scale field strengths in the range between 20 to 200\,G similar to those of M~dwarfs rotating significantly faster. Our findings imply that the large-scale fields of very slowly rotating M~dwarfs are likely generated through dynamo processes operating in a different regime than those of the faster rotators that have been magnetically characterized so far.

Comments: 16 pages, 35 figures, published in MNRAS

Ref Arxiv: 2312.04247
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202347604
Ref. & Cit.: NASA ADS
Abstract:

This work is part of the BinaMIcS project, the aim of which is to understand the interaction between binarity and magnetism in close binary systems. All the studied spectroscopic binaries targeted by the BinaMIcS project encompass hot massive and intermediate-mass stars on the main sequence, as well as cool stars over a wide range of evolutionary stages. The present paper focuses on the binary system FK Aqr, which is composed of two early M dwarfs. Both stars are already known to be magnetically active based on their light curves and detected flare activity. In addition, the two components have large convective envelopes with masses just above the fully convective limit, making the system an ideal target for studying effect of binarity on stellar dynamos. We use spectropolarimetric observations obtained with ESPaDOnS at CFHT in September 2014. Mean Stokes I and V line profiles are extracted using the least-squares deconvolution (LSD) method. The radial velocities of the two components are measured from the LSD Stokes I profiles and are combined with interferometric measurements in order to constrain the orbital parameters of the system. The longitudinal magnetic fields Bl and chromospheric activity indicators are measured from the LSD mean line profiles. The rotational modulation of the Stokes V profiles is used to reconstruct the surface magnetic field structures of both stars via the Zeeman Doppler imaging (ZDI) inversion technique. Maps of the surface magnetic field structures of both components of FK Aqr are presented for the first time. Our study shows that both components host similar large-scale magnetic fields of moderate intensity (Bmean ~ 0.25 kG); both are predominantly poloidal and feature a strong axisymmetric dipolar component. (abridged)

Comments: 19 pages, 6 figures, 6 tables + appendices, published A&A

DOI: 10.1016/j.aichem.2024.100052
Abstract:

We investigate the possibility to use an artificial neural network in order to generate a large number of accurate state-to-state rate constants, from the available rates obtained at different accuracy levels, including small numbers of accurate rates and large numbers of low-accuracy rates.