arXiv subjects

Sylvain N. Breton

Publications and source records attributed to Sylvain N. Breton.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

Magnetic activity evolution of solar-like stars: I. S_ph-Age relation derived from Kepler observations

The ages of solar-like stars have been at the center of many studies such as exoplanet characterization or Galactic-archaeology. While ages are usually computed from stellar evolution models, relations linking ages to other stellar properties, such as rotation and magnetic activity, have been investigated. With the large catalog of 55,232 rotation periods, $P_{\rm rot}$, and photometric magnetic activity index, $S_{\rm ph}$ from Kepler data, we have the opportunity to look for such magneto-gyro-chronology relations. Stellar ages are obtained with two stellar evolution codes that include treatment of angular momentum evolution, hence using $P_{\rm rot}$ as input in addition to classical atmospheric parameters. We explore two different ways of predicting stellar ages on three subsamples with spectroscopic observations: solar analogs, late-F and G dwarfs, and K dwarfs. We first perform a Bayesian analysis to derive relations between $S_{\rm ph}$ and ages between 1 and 5 Gyr, and other stellar properties. For late-F and G dwarfs, and K dwarfs, the multivariate regression favors the model with $P_{\rm rot}$ and $S_{\rm ph}$ with median differences of 0.1%.and 0.2% respectively. We also apply Machine Learning techniques with a Random Forest algorithm to predict ages up to 14 Gyr with the same set of input parameters. For late-F, G and K dwarfs together, predicted ages are on average within 5.3% of the model ages and improve to 3.1% when including $P_{\rm rot}$. These are very promising results for a quick age estimation for solar-like stars with photometric observations, especially with current and future space missions.

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arXiv2023

Revisiting the Red-giant Branch Hosts KOI-3886 and $ι$ Draconis. Detailed Asteroseismic Modeling and Consolidated Stellar Parameters

Asteroseismology is playing an increasingly important role in the characterization of red-giant host stars and their planetary systems. Here, we conduct detailed asteroseismic modeling of the evolved red-giant branch (RGB) hosts KOI-3886 and $ι$ Draconis, making use of end-of-mission Kepler (KOI-3886) and multi-sector TESS ($ι$ Draconis) time-series photometry. We also model the benchmark star KIC 8410637, a member of an eclipsing binary, thus providing a direct test to the seismic determination. We test the impact of adopting different sets of observed modes as seismic constraints. Inclusion of $\ell=1$ and 2 modes improves the precision on the stellar parameters, albeit marginally, compared to adopting radial modes alone, with $1.9$-$3.0\%$ (radius), $5$-$9\%$ (mass), and $19$-$25\%$ (age) reached when using all p-dominated modes as constraints. Given the very small spacing of adjacent dipole mixed modes in evolved RGB stars, the sparse set of observed g-dominated modes is not able to provide extra constraints, further leading to highly multimodal posteriors. Access to multi-year time-series photometry does not improve matters, with detailed modeling of evolved RGB stars based on (lower-resolution) TESS data sets attaining a precision commensurate with that based on end-of-mission Kepler data. Furthermore, we test the impact of varying the atmospheric boundary condition in our stellar models. We find mass and radius estimates to be insensitive to the description of the near-surface layers, at the expense of substantially changing both the near-surface structure of the best-fitting models and the values of associated parameters like the initial helium abundance, $Y_{\rm i}$. Attempts to measure $Y_{\rm i}$ from seismic modeling of red giants may thus be systematically dependent on the choice of atmospheric physics.

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arXiv2023

TESS Asteroseismic Analysis of HD 76920: The Giant Star Hosting An Extremely Eccentric Exoplanet

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission searches for new exoplanets. The observing strategy of TESS results in high-precision photometry of millions of stars across the sky, allowing for detailed asteroseismic studies of individual systems. In this work, we present a detailed asteroseismic analysis of the giant star HD 76920 hosting a highly eccentric giant planet ($e = 0.878$) with an orbital period of 415 days, using 5 sectors of TESS light curve that cover around 140 days of data. Solar-like oscillations in HD 76920 are detected around $52 \, μ$Hz by TESS for the first time. By utilizing asteroseismic modeling that takes classical observational parameters and stellar oscillation frequencies as constraints, we determine improved measurements of the stellar mass ($1.22 \pm 0.11\, M_\odot$), radius ($8.68 \pm 0.34\,R_\odot$), and age ($5.2 \pm 1.4\,$Gyr). With the updated parameters of the host star, we update the semi-major axis and mass of the planet as $a=1.165 \pm 0.035$ au and $M_{\rm p}\sin{i} = 3.57 \pm 0.22\,M_{\rm Jup}$. With an orbital pericenter of $0.142 \pm 0.005$ au, we confirm that the planet is currently far away enough from the star to experience negligible tidal decay until being engulfed in the stellar envelope. We also confirm that this event will occur within about 100\,Myr, depending on the stellar model used.

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arXiv2022

Stochastic excitation of internal gravity waves in rotating late F-type stars: A 3D simulation approach

There are no strong constraints placed thus far on the amplitude of internal gravity waves (IGWs) that are stochastically excited in the radiative interiors of solar-type stars. Late F-type stars have relatively thin convective envelopes with fast convective flows and tend to be fast rotators compared to solar-type stars of later spectral types. These two elements are expected to directly impact the IGW excitation rates and properties. We want to estimate the amplitude of stochastically excited gravity modes (g-modes) in F-type stars for different rotational regimes. We used the ASH code to perform 3D simulations of deep-shell models of 1.3 $M_\odot$ F-type solar-type stars, including the radiative interior and the shallow convective envelope. The IGWs are excited by interface interactions between convective plumes and the top of the radiative interior. We were able to characterise the IGWs and g-mode properties in the radiative interior, and we compared these properties using the computation from the 1D oscillation code GYRE. The amplitude of low-frequency modes is significantly higher in fast-rotating models and the evolution of the period spacing of consecutive modes exhibits evidence of a behaviour that is modified by the influence of the Coriolis force. For our fastest rotating model, we were able to detect the intermediate degree g-mode signature near the top of the simulation domain. Nevertheless, the predicted luminosity perturbations from individual modes still remain at small amplitudes. We obtained mode amplitudes that are several orders of magnitude higher than those of prior 3D simulations of solar models. Our simulations suggest that g-mode signatures could be detectable in late F-type stars. [abridged]

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arXiv2022

Hunting for anti-solar differentially rotating stars using the Rossby number -- An application to the Kepler field

Anti-solar differential rotation profiles have been found for decades in numerical simulations of convective envelopes of solar-type stars. These profiles are characterized by a slow equator and fast poles (i.e., reversed with respect to the Sun) and have been found in simulations for high Rossby numbers (slow rotators). Rotation profiles like this have been reported observationally in evolved stars, but have never been unambiguously observed for cool solar-type stars on the main sequence. In this context, detecting this regime in main-sequence solar-type stars would improve our understanding of their magnetorotational evolution. The goal of this study is to identify the most promising cool main-sequence stellar candidates for anti-solar differential rotation in the \textit{Kepler} sample. First, we introduce a new theoretical formula to estimate fluid Rossby numbers, $Ro_{\rm f}$, of main-sequence solar-type stars, from observational quantities, and taking the influences of the internal structure and metallicity into account. We obtain a list of the most promising stars that are likely to show anti-solar differential rotation. We identify two samples: one at solar metallicity, including 14 targets, and another for other metallicities, including 8 targets. We find that the targets with the highest $Ro_{\rm f}$ are likely to be early-G or late-F stars at about log$_{10}g=4.37$~dex. We conclude that cool main-sequence stellar candidates for anti-solar differential rotation exist in the \textit{Kepler} sample. The most promising candidate is KIC~10907436, and two other particularly interesting candidates are the solar analog KIC~7189915 and the seismic target KIC~12117868. Future characterization of these 22 stars is expected to help us understand how dynamics can impact magnetic and rotational evolution of old solar-type stars at high Rossby number.

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arXiv2022

Spinning up the Surface: Evidence for Planetary Engulfment or Unexpected Angular Momentum Transport?

In this paper, we report the potential detection of a nonmonotonic radial rotation profile in a low-mass lower-luminosity giant star. For most low- and intermediate-mass stars, the rotation on the main sequence seems to be close to rigid. As these stars evolve into giants, the core contracts and the envelope expands, which should suggest a radial rotation profile with a fast core and a slower envelope and surface. KIC 9267654, however, seems to show a surface rotation rate that is faster than its bulk envelope rotation rate, in conflict with this simple angular momentum conservation argument. We improve the spectroscopic surface constraint, show that the pulsation frequencies are consistent with the previously published core and envelope rotation rates, and demonstrate that the star does not show strong chemical peculiarities. We discuss the evidence against any tidally interacting stellar companion. Finally, we discuss the possible origin of this unusual rotation profile, including the potential ingestion of a giant planet or unusual angular momentum transport by tidal inertial waves triggered by a close substellar companion, and encourage further observational and theoretical efforts.

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arXiv2021

Asteroseismology of iota Draconis and Discovery of an Additional Long-Period Companion

Giant stars as known exoplanet hosts are relatively rare due to the potential challenges in acquiring precision radial velocities and the small predicted transit depths. However, these giant host stars are also some of the brightest in the sky and so enable high signal-to-noise follow-up measurements. Here we report on new observations of the bright (V ~ 3.3) giant star $ι$ Draconis ($ι$ Dra), known to host a planet in a highly eccentric ~511 day period orbit. TESS observations of the star over 137 days reveal asteroseismic signatures, allowing us to constrain the stellar radius, mass, and age to ~2%, ~6%, and ~28%, respectively. We present the results of continued radial velocity monitoring of the star using the Automated Planet Finder over several orbits of the planet. We provide more precise planet parameters of the known planet and, through the combination of our radial velocity measurements with Hipparcos and Gaia astrometry, we discover an additional long-period companion with an orbital period of ~$68^{+60}_{-36}$ years. Mass predictions from our analysis place this sub-stellar companion on the border of the planet and brown dwarf regimes. The bright nature of the star combined with the revised orbital architecture of the system provides an opportunity to study planetary orbital dynamics that evolve as the star moves into the giant phase of its evolution.

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arXiv2021

ROOSTER: a machine-learning analysis tool for Kepler stellar rotation periods

In order to understand stellar evolution, it is crucial to efficiently determine stellar surface rotation periods. An efficient tool to automatically determine reliable rotation periods is needed when dealing with large samples of stellar photometric datasets. The objective of this work is to develop such a tool. Random forest learning abilities are exploited to automate the extraction of rotation periods in Kepler light curves. Rotation periods and complementary parameters are obtained from three different methods: a wavelet analysis, the autocorrelation function of the light curve, and the composite spectrum. We train three different classifiers: one to detect if rotational modulations are present in the light curve, one to flag close binary or classical pulsators candidates that can bias our rotation period determination, and finally one classifier to provide the final rotation period. We test our machine learning pipeline on 23,431 stars of the Kepler K and M dwarf reference rotation catalog of Santos et al. (2019) for which 60% of the stars have been visually inspected. For the sample of 21,707 stars where all the input parameters are provided to the algorithm, 94.2% of them are correctly classified (as rotating or not). Among the stars that have a rotation period in the reference catalog, the machine learning provides a period that agrees within 10% of the reference value for 95.3% of the stars. Moreover, the yield of correct rotation periods is raised to 99.5% after visually inspecting 25.2% of the stars. Over the two main analysis steps, rotation classification and period selection, the pipeline yields a global agreement with the reference values of 92.1% and 96.9% before and after visual inspection. Random forest classifiers are efficient tools to determine reliable rotation periods in large samples of stars. [abridged]

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arXiv2020

Solid tidal friction in multi-layer planets: Application to Earth, Venus, a Super Earth and the TRAPPIST-1 planets. Can a multi-layer planet be approximated as a homogeneous planet?

With the discovery of TRAPPIST-1 and its seven planets within 0.06 au, the correct treatment of tidal interactions is becoming necessary. The eccentricity, rotation, and obliquity of the planets of TRAPPIST-1 are indeed the result of tidal evolution over the lifetime of the system. Tidal interactions can also lead to tidal heating in the interior of the planets, which can then be responsible for volcanism and/or surface deformation. In the majority of studies to estimate the rotation of close-in planets or their tidal heating, the planets are considered as homogeneous bodies and their rheology is often taken to be a Maxwell rheology. We investigate here the impact of considering a multi-layer structure and an Andrade rheology on the way planets dissipate tidal energy as a function of the excitation frequency. We use an internal structure model, which provides the radial profile of structural and rheological quantities to compute the tidal response of multi-layer bodies. We then compare the outcome to the dissipation of a homogeneous planet. We find that for purely rocky bodies, it is possible to approximate the response of a multi-layer planet by that of a homogeneous planet. However, using average profiles of shear modulus and viscosity to compute the homogeneous planet response leads to an overestimation of the averaged dissipation. We provide fitted values of shear modulus and viscosity to be able to reproduce the response of various types of rocky planets. However, we find that if the planet has an icy layer, its tidal response can no longer be approximated by a homogeneous body because of the very different properties of the icy layers, which lead to a second dissipation peak at higher frequencies. We also compute the tidal heating profiles for the outer TRAPPIST-1 planets (e to h).

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