Signs of deep mixing in starspot variability

Autor(en)
O. V. Arkhypov, Maxim L. Khodachenko, Manuel Güdel, Colin Johnstone, Theresa Rank-Lüftinger, Helmut Lammer
Abstrakt

The current knowledge on plasma mixing in stellar interiors is based on theoretical modeling, which calibrates the empirical relations between the mixing and observable stellar parameters. Hence, a model-independent method of studying the mixing process is a desirable, but yet unfounded approach. Here, using a new spectral-correlation method, verified for the Sun, we show that deep mixing is manifested in stellar photometric light curves. We measure the timescales of the stochastic change in the spectral power of rotational variability of hundreds of main-sequence stars from the Kepler mission archive. The discovered proportionality of these timescales to the turnover time of the standard mixing length theory, their consistency with Kolmogorov's theory of turbulence, and the relation with stellar activity provide a new approach to the probing of stellar interiors. This opens a broad perspective for experimental studies of deep mixing and magnetic dynamos in stars.

Organisation(en)
Institut für Astrophysik
Externe Organisation(en)
Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW), Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU), Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz
Journal
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Band
576
Anzahl der Seiten
7
ISSN
0004-6361
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201425307
Publikationsdatum
04-2015
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
103003 Astronomie, 103004 Astrophysik
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Space and Planetary Science
Link zum Portal
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/signs-of-deep-mixing-in-starspot-variability(161c8029-ec97-40d7-80c2-d9c32545eabd).html