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arXiv · 2403.08405

Coriolis darkening in late-type stars II. Effect of self-sustained magnetic fields in stratified convective envelope

C. Pinçon·L. Petitdemange·R. Raynaud·L. J. Garcia·A. Guseva·M. Rieutord·E. Alecian
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Abstract

Modeling the surface brightness distribution of stars is of prime importance to interpret observations. Nevertheless, this remains quite challenging for cool stars as it requires one to model the MHD turbulence that develops in their convective envelope. In Paper I, the effect of the Coriolis acceleration on the surface heat flux has been studied by means of hydrodynamic simulations. In this paper, we aim to investigate the additional effect of dynamo magnetic fields. We focus on an envelope thickness that is representative of either a $\sim0.35~M_\odot$ M dwarf, a young red giant star or a pre-main sequence star. We performed a parametric study using numerical MHD simulations of anelastic convection in thick rotating spherical shells. For each model, we computed the mean surface distribution of the heat flux, and examined the leading-order effect of the magnetic field on the obtained latitudinal luminosity profile. We identify three different regimes. Close to the onset of convection, while the first unstable modes tend to convey heat more efficiently near the equator, magnetic fields are shown to generally enhance the mean heat flux close to the polar regions (and the tangent cylinder). By progressively increasing the Rayleigh number, the development of a prograde equatorial jet was previously shown to make the equator darker when no magnetic field is taken into account. For moderate Rayleigh numbers, magnetic fields can instead inverse the mean pole-equator brightness contrast (which means going from a darker to a brighter equator when a dynamo sets in) and finally induce a similar regime to that found close to the onset of convection. For more turbulent models with larger Rayleigh numbers, magnetic fields alternatively tend to smooth out the brightness contrast. This general behavior is shown to be related to the quenching of the surface differential rotation by magnetic fields.

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C. Pinçon, L. Petitdemange, R. Raynaud, L. J. Garcia, A. Guseva, M. Rieutord, E. Alecian. 2024-03-13. Coriolis darkening in late-type stars II. Effect of self-sustained magnetic fields in stratified convective envelope. https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.08405

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