Nonlinear Alfvén Wave Model of Stellar Coronae and Winds from the Sun to M dwarfs

Abstract

M dwarf's atmosphere and wind is expected to be highly magnetized. The nonlinear propagation of Alfvén wave could play a key role in both heating the stellar atmosphere and driving the stellar wind. Along this Alfvén wave scenario, we carried out the one-dimensional compressive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation about the nonlinear propagation of Alfvén wave from the M dwarf's photosphere, chromosphere to the corona and interplanetary space. Based on the simulation results, we develop the semi-empirical method describing the solar and M dwarf's coronal temperature, stellar wind velocity, and wind's mass loss rate. We find that M dwarfs' coronae tend to be cooler than solar corona, and that M dwarfs' stellar winds would be characterized with faster velocity and much smaller mass loss rate compared to those of the solar wind.

12 pages, 5 figures, accepted for the publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters

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Cited by in corpus (4)

• The Earth-like Galactic cosmic ray intensity in the habitable zone of the M dwarf GJ 436
• M-dwarf's Chromosphere, Corona and Wind Connection via the Nonlinear Alfvén Wave
• Coronal Loops with Different Metallicities and Generalized RTV Scaling Laws
• The impact of stellar winds and tidal locking effects on the habitability of Earth-like exoplanets around M dwarf stars