Measuring Magnetic Fields in Stellar Interiors

by Daniel Lecoanet (Northwestern U)

Tuesday 10 Sept 2024, 15:00 → 16:00 Europe/Stockholm

Albano 3: 4205 - SU Conference Room (40 seats) (Albano Building 3)

https://stockholmuniversity.zoom.us/j/940229961

Stars are key components of galaxies and exoplanetary systems, and are progenitors for supernova explosions and compact object binaries. Magnetic fields in stellar interiors can affect nucleosynthetic yields and chemical transport, magnetic activity (and hence habitability of exoplanets), and rotation rate of compact remnants. Despite their importance, not much is known about magnetic fields inside stars. In this talk, I will describe a new method to infer magnetic field strengths in stellar interiors. This combines asteroseismic observations of stellar pulsation modes by space missions like CoRoT and TESS with theoretical and numerical calculations of magnetic wave properties in stars. I will also show how similar mechanisms may explain observations of efficient tidal dissipation in same exoplanetary systems. The nascent field of magneto-asteroseismology is providing better and better measurements of stellar magnetic fields, and will play an important role in our understanding of stellar structure and evolution.

Lecoanet_2024-09-10.mp4