The Missing Magnetic Morphology Term in Stellar Rotation Evolution

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between magnetic field complexity and mass and angular momentum losses. Observations of open clusters have revealed a bimodal distribution of the rotation periods of solar-like stars that has proven difficult to explain under the existing rubric of magnetic braking. Recent studies suggest that magnetic complexity can play an important role in controlling stellar spin-down rates. However, magnetic morphology is still neglected in most rotation evolution models due to the difficulty of properly accounting for its effects on wind driving and angular momentum loss. Using state-of-the-art magnetohydrodynamical magnetized wind simulations we study the effect that different distributions of the magnetic flux at different levels of geometrical complexity have on mass and angular momentum loss rates. Angular momentum loss rates depend strongly on the level of complexity of the field but are independent of the way this complexity is distributed. We deduce the analytical terms representing the magnetic field morphology dependence of mass and angular momentum loss rates. We also define a parameter that best represents complexity for real stars. As a test, we use these analytical methods to estimate mass and angular momentum loss rates for $8$ stars with observed magnetograms and compare them to the simulated results. Magnetic field complexity provides a natural physical basis for stellar rotation evolution models requiring a rapid transition between weak and strong spin-down modes.

13 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

References in corpus (23)

• On the rotational evolution of solar- and late-type stars, its magnetic origins, and the possibility of stellar gyrochronology
• Magnetic fields of non-degenerate stars
• Alfven Wave Solar Model (AWSoM): Coronal Heating
• Magnetic Braking Formulation for Sun-Like Stars: Dependence on Dipole Field Strength and Rotation Rate
• The effect of magnetic topology on thermally-driven winds: towards a general formulation of the braking law
• The evolution of surface magnetic fields in young solar-type stars I: the first 250 Myr
• Magnetic cycles of the planet-hosting star Tau Bootis: II. a second magnetic polarity reversal
• MHD Waves and Coronal Heating: Unifying Empirical and MHD Turbulence Models
• M-dwarf stellar winds: the effects of realistic magnetic geometry on rotational evolution and planets
• The Color-Period Diagram and Stellar Rotational Evolution - New Rotation Period Measurements in the Open Cluster M34
• A small survey of the magnetic fields of planet-host stars
• A Global Wave-Driven MHD Solar Model with a Unified Treatment of Open and Closed Magnetic Field Topologies
• Rotational velocities of low-mass stars in the Pleiades and Hyades
• The Metastable Dynamo Model of Stellar Rotational Evolution
• The coronal structure of AB Dor determined from contemporaneous Doppler imaging and X-ray spectroscopy
• Variation of the solar magnetic flux spectrum during solar cycle 23
• The dependence of stellar mass and angular momentum losses on latitude and on active region and dipolar magnetic fields
• The Independency of Stellar Mass Loss Rates on stellar X-ray Luminosity and Activity Level based on Solar X-ray flux and Solar Wind Observations
• Magnetic fields on young, moderately rotating Sun-like stars - I: HD~35296 and HD~29615
• Magnetic fields and differential rotation on the pre-main sequence I: The early-G star HD 141943 - brightness and magnetic topologies
• A Grid of MHD Models for Stellar Mass Loss and Spin-down Rates of Solar Analogs
• Magnetic fields and differential rotation on the pre-main sequence III: The early-G star HD 106506
• The effect of limited spatial resolution of stellar surface magnetic field maps on MHD wind and coronal X-ray emission models

Cited by in corpus (58)

• Slowing the Spins of Stellar Cores
• The active lives of stars: a complete description of rotation and XUV evolution of F, G, K, and M dwarfs
• Suppression of Coronal Mass Ejections in active stars by an overlying large-scale magnetic field: A numerical study
• The Revolution Revolution: magnetic morphology driven spin-down
• Atmospheric Escape Processes and Planetary Atmospheric Evolution
• The evolution of the solar wind
• Weakened magnetic braking supported by asteroseismic rotation rates of Kepler dwarfs
• The Effect of Combined Magnetic Geometries on Thermally Driven Winds II: Dipolar, Quadrupolar and Octupolar Topologies
• Stellar Coronal Mass Ejections I. Estimating occurrence frequencies and mass-loss rates
• Flare Rates, Rotation Periods. and Spectroscopic Activity Indicators of a Volume-Complete Sample of Mid-to-Late M dwarfs within 15 Parsecs
• Magnetic Evolution and the Disappearance of Sun-like Activity Cycles
• X-ray irradiation and evaporation of the four young planets around V1298 Tau
• Do non-dipolar magnetic fields contribute to spin-down torques?
• Combined Effects of Rotation and Age Spreads on Extended Main Sequence Turn Offs
• The Origin of Weakened Magnetic Braking in Old Solar Analogs
• Magnetic braking saturates: evidence from the orbital period distribution of low-mass detached eclipsing binaries from ZTF
• The Effect of Magnetic Variability on Stellar Angular Momentum Loss I: The Solar Wind Torque During Sunspot Cycles 23 & 24
• The Effect of Combined Magnetic Geometries on Thermally Driven Winds I: Interaction of Dipolar and Quadrupolar Fields
• Magnetic torques on T Tauri stars: accreting vs. non-accreting systems
• Understanding the Limitations of Gyrochronology for Old Field Stars
• Tuning the Exo-Space Weather Radio for Stellar Coronal Mass Ejections
• EvryFlare II: Rotation Periods of the Cool Flare Stars in TESS Across Half the Southern Sky
• Global solar magnetic field organization in the outer corona: influence on the solar wind speed and mass flux over the cycle
• Magnetic braking of Sun-like and low-mass stars: Dependence on coronal temperature
• The rotation period distribution of the rich Pleiades-age Southern open cluster NGC 2516. Existence of a representative zero-age main sequence distribution
• MESA models with magnetic braking
• The Magnetic Nature of the Cataclysmic Variable Period Gap
• Magnetic and Rotational Evolution of $\rho$ CrB from Asteroseismology with TESS
• A search for radius inflation among active M-dwarfs in Praesepe
• From Stellar Coronæ to Gyrochronology: a theoretical and observational exploration
• The Solar Wind Environment in Time
• Magnetic braking with MESA evolutionary models in the single star and LMXB regimes
• The influence of host star activity evolution on the population of super-Earths and mini-Neptunes
• Lambda And: A post-main sequence wind from a solar-mass star
• The winds of young Solar-type stars in the Hyades
• Solar Angular Momentum Loss Over the Past Several Millennia
• Probing the Influence of a Tachocline in Simulated M-Dwarf Dynamos
• The Effect of Magnetic Variability on Stellar Angular Momentum Loss II: The Sun, 61 Cygni A, $\epsilon$ Eridani, $\xi$ Bootis A and $\tau$ Bootis A
• Revisiting the space weather environment of Proxima Centauri b
• Kepler main-sequence solar-like stars: surface rotation and magnetic-activity evolution
• Further evidence of saturated, boosted, and disrupted magnetic braking from evolutionary tracks of cataclysmic variables
• How much do underestimated field strengths from Zeeman-Doppler imaging affect spin-down torque estimates?
• Stellar winds as a mechanism to tilt the spin axes of Sun-like stars
• Stellar activity and planetary atmosphere evolution in tight binary star systems
• TESS asteroseismology of $\beta$ Hydri: a subgiant with a born-again dynamo
• Brightness Fluctuation Spectra of Sun-Like Stars. I. The Mid-Frequency Continuum
• Is planetary inward migration responsible for GJ 504's fast rotation and bright X-ray luminosity? New constraints from eROSITA
• Towards a holistic magnetic braking model from the evolution of cataclysmic variables to stellar spin-down -- I: the spin-down of fully convective M-dwarfs
• Testing the Rossby Paradigm: Weakened Magnetic Braking in early K-type Stars
• Convective dynamos of black widow companions
• Suggested magnetic braking prescription derived from field complexity fails to reproduce the cataclysmic variable orbital period gap
• Three-dimensional, Time-dependent MHD Simulation of Disk-Magnetosphere-Stellar Wind Interaction in a T Tauri, Protoplanetary System
• Magnetic braking and dynamo evolution of $\beta$ Hydri
• Towards a holistic magnetic braking model -- II: explaining several long-term internal- and surface-spin properties of solar-like stars and the Sun
• Chromospheric emission of solar-type stars with asteroseismic ages
• Radial differential rotation leading to dipole collapse in pre-main-sequence stars
• Zeeman Doppler Imaging of $\tau$Ceti: The Weakest Magnetic Field Detected in a Sun-like Star
• Mechanisms for magnetic braking boost and disruption: the role of irradiation-driven winds and convective turnover time spike in cataclysmic variables