Distribution of magnetically confined circumstellar matter in oblique rotators

Abstract

We consider the mechanical equilibrium and stability of matter trapped in the magnetosphere of a rapidly rotating star. Assuming a dipolar magnetic field and arbitrary inclination of the magnetic axis with respect to the axis of rotation we find stable equilibrium positions a) in a (warped) disk roughly aligned with the magnetic equatorial plane and b) at two locations above and below the disk, whose distance from the star increases with decreasing inclination angle between dipole and rotation axis. The distribution of matter is not strongly affected by allowing for a spatial offset of the magnetic dipole. These results provide a possible explanation for some observations of corotating localized mass concentrations in hot magnetic stars.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in A&A

References in corpus (4)

• Dynamical Simulations of Magnetically Channeled Line-Driven Stellar Winds: I. Isothermal, Nonrotating, Radially Driven Flow
• A Magnetically Torqued Disk Model for Be Stars
• Wind Circulation in Selected Rotating Magnetic Early-B Stars
• Ultraviolet Spectrophotometry of Variable Early-Type Be and B stars Derived from High-Resolution IUE Data

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