Open AccessThe origin of magnetism on the upper main sequence
Author(s) -
Ferrario Lilia,
Pringle J. E.,
Tout Christopher A.,
Wickramasinghe D. T.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society: letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.067
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1745-3933
pISSN - 1745-3925
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-3933.2009.00765.x
Subject(s) - stars , physics , magnetism , merge (version control) , radiative transfer , astrophysics , main sequence , differential rotation , astronomy , condensed matter physics , optics , computer science , information retrieval
We consider the incidence of magnetism in main‐sequence stars with mainly radiative envelopes. We propose that the small fraction, which increases with mass, of stars which are magnetic can be explained if towards the end of the formation process, after the stars have developed a substantial radiative envelope, a correspondingly small fraction of stars merge. Such late mergers would produce a brief period of strong differential rotation and give rise to large‐scale fields in the radiative envelopes. Such late mergers can also account for the lack of close binaries among these stars.