paper

Stellar evolution with rotation and magnetic fields:I. The relative importance of rotational and magnetic effects

arXiv:astro-ph/0309672 · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20031491

Abstract

We compare the current effects of rotation in stellar evolution to those of the magnetic field created by the Tayler instability. In stellar regions, where magnetic field can be generated by the dynamo due to differential rotation (Spruit 2002), we find that the growth rate of the magnetic instability is much faster than for the thermal instability. Thus, meridional circulation is negligible with respect to the magnetic fields, both for the transport of angular momentum and of chemical elements. Also, the horizontal coupling by the magnetic field, which reaches values of a few G, is much more important than the effects of the horizontal turbulence. The field, however, is not sufficient to distort the shape of the equipotentials. We impose the condition that the energy of the magnetic field created by the Tayler--Spruit dynamo cannot be larger than the energy excess present in the differential rotation. This leads to a criterion for the existence of the magnetic field in stellar interiors. Numerical tests are made in a rotating star model of 15 M rotating with an initial velocity of 300 kms.

Accepted for Astronomy and Astrophysics, 11 pages, 8 figures

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