Statistical relations between spectropolarimetric observables and the polar strength of the stellar dipolar magnetic field

Abstract

Global magnetic fields of early-type stars are commonly characterised by the mean longitudinal magnetic field $\langle B_{\rm z} \rangle$ and the mean field modulus $\langle B \rangle$, derived from the circular polarisation and intensity spectra, respectively. Observational studies often report a root mean square (rms) of $\langle B_{\rm z} \rangle$ and an average value of $\langle B \rangle$. In this work, I used numerical simulations to establish statistical relationships between these cumulative magnetic observables and the polar strength, $B_{\rm d}$, of a dipolar magnetic field. I show that in the limit of many measurements randomly distributed in rotational phase, $\langle B_{\rm z} \rangle_{\rm rms}$=$0.179^{+0.031}_{-0.043}$$B_{\rm d}$ and $\langle B \rangle_{\rm avg}$=$0.691^{+0.020}_{-0.023}$$B_{\rm d}$. The same values can be recovered with only three measurements, provided that the observations are distributed uniformly in the rotational phase. These conversion factors are suitable for ensemble analyses of large stellar samples, where each target is covered by a small number of magnetic measurements.