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First Zeeman Doppler Imaging of a Cool Star Using All Four Stokes Parameters
Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Science and Technology, Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Observational Astronomy.
Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Science and Technology, Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Observational Astronomy.
2015 (English)In: Astrophysical Journal, ISSN 0004-637X, E-ISSN 1538-4357, Vol. 805, no 2, article id 169Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Magnetic fields are ubiquitous in active cool stars, but they are in general complex and weak. Current Zeeman Doppler imaging (ZDI) studies of cool star magnetic fields chiefly employ circular polarization observations because linear polarization is difficult to detect and requires a more sophisticated radiative transfer modeling to interpret. But it has been shown in previous theoretical studies, and in the observational analyses of magnetic Ap stars, that including linear polarization in the magnetic inversion process makes it possible to correctly recover many otherwise lost or misinterpreted magnetic features. We have obtained phase-resolved observations in all four Stokes parameters of the RS CVn star II Peg at two separate epochs. Here we present temperature and magnetic field maps reconstructed for this star using all four Stokes parameters. This is the very first such ZDI study of a cool active star. Our magnetic inversions reveal a highly structured magnetic field topology for both epochs. The strength of some surface features is doubled or even quadrupled when linear polarization is taken into account. The total magnetic energy of the reconstructed field map also becomes about 2.1-3.5 times higher. The overall complexity is also increased as the field energy is shifted toward higher harmonic modes when four Stokes parameters are used. As a consequence, the potential field extrapolation of the four Stokes parameter ZDI results indicates that magnetic field becomes weaker at a distance of several stellar radii due to a decrease of the largescale field component.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2015. Vol. 805, no 2, article id 169
Keywords [en]
polarization, stars: individual (II Peg), stars: late-type, stars: magnetic field
National Category
Physical Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-258780DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/805/2/169ISI: 000356715400084OAI: oai:DiVA.org:uu-258780DiVA, id: diva2:842403
Available from: 2015-07-20 Created: 2015-07-20 Last updated: 2017-12-04Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. Magnetic fields of cool active stars
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Magnetic fields of cool active stars
2016 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Magnetic fields are present throughout the universe and are very important for many astrophysical processes. Magnetic field influences a star throughout its life and affects nearby objects such as planets. Stellar magnetic field can be detected by measuring the Zeeman splitting of spectral lines in the intensity spectra (Stokes I) if the field is strong, or by analyzing polarization spectra if the field is weak. Magnetic fields in stars similar to the Sun are ubiquitous but, in general, relatively weak. Until recently these fields were detected through circular polarization (Stokes V) only since linear polarization (Stokes QU) is significantly weaker. The information embedded in different Stokes spectra is used for reconstruction of the surface magnetic field topology with Zeeman Doppler imaging (ZDI) technique. However, cool stars often have complex field geometries and this, combined with a low field strength, partial Stokes parameter observations and the presence of cool spots, makes accurate magnetic mapping difficult. We have performed numerical tests of ZDI to investigate some of the problems of magnetic inversions and ways to overcome them. The most reliable results were found when magnetic field and temperature inhomogeneities were modelled simultaneously and all four Stokes parameters were included in the reconstruction process. We carried out observations of active cool stars in all four Stokes parameters trying to find an object with linear polarization signatures suitable for ZDI. The RS CVn star II Peg was identified as a promising target, showing exceptionally strong linear polarization signatures. We reconstructed the magnetic field in II Peg using full Stokes vector observations for the first time in a cool star. Compared to the magnetic maps recovered from the Stokes IV spectra, the four Stokes parameter results reveal a significantly stronger and more complex surface magnetic field and a more compact stellar magnetosphere. Spectropolarimetric observations and magnetic inversions can also be used to investigate magnetic activity of the young Sun and its implications for the solar system past. To this end, we studied a sample of six stars with parameters very similar to the present Sun, but with ages of only 100-650 Myr. Magnetic field maps of these young solar analogues suggest a significant decrease of the field strength in the age interval 100-250 Myr and a possible change in the magnetic field topology for stars older than about 600 Myr.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 2016. p. 67
Series
Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology, ISSN 1651-6214 ; 1367
Keywords
stars: magnetic field, stars: late-type, stars: activity, stars: imaging, polarisation, starspots
National Category
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Research subject
Astronomy
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-283357 (URN)978-91-554-9561-9 (ISBN)
Public defence
2016-06-02, Häggsalen, Ångströmlaboratoriet, Lägerhyddsvägen 1, Uppsala, 13:15 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2016-05-11 Created: 2016-04-12 Last updated: 2016-06-01

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Rosén, LisaKochukhov, Oleg

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