ABSTRACT
Insights on stellar surface large-scale magnetic field topologies are usually drawn by applying Zeeman–Doppler Imaging (ZDI) to the observed spectropolarimetric time series. However, ZDI ...requires experience for reliable results to be reached and is based on a number of prior assumptions that may not be valid, e.g. when the magnetic topology is evolving on time-scales comparable to or shorter than the time span over which observations are collected. In this paper, we present a method based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) applied to circularly polarized (Stokes V) line profiles of magnetic stars to retrieve the main characteristics of the parent large-scale magnetic topologies, like for instance, the relative strength of the poloidal and toroidal components, and the degree of axisymmetry of the dominant field component and its complexity (dipolar or more complex). We show that this method can also be used to diagnose the temporal variability of the large-scale magnetic field. Performing best for stars with moderate projected equatorial velocities hosting relatively simple magnetic field topologies, this new method is simpler than ZDI, making it convenient to rapidly diagnose the main characteristics of the large-scale fields of non-degenerate stars and to provide insights into the temporal evolution of the field topology.
ABSTRACT
In this paper, we present an analysis of near-infrared spectropolarimetric and velocimetric data of the young M dwarf AU Mic, collected with SPIRou at the Canada–France–Hawaii telescope from ...2019 to 2022, mostly within the SPIRou Legacy Survey. With these data, we study the large- and small-scale magnetic field of AU Mic, detected through the unpolarized and circularly polarized Zeeman signatures of spectral lines. We find that both are modulated with the stellar rotation period (4.86 d), and evolve on a time-scale of months under differential rotation and intrinsic variability. The small-scale field, estimated from the broadening of spectral lines, reaches 2.61 ± 0.05 kG. The large-scale field, inferred with Zeeman–Doppler imaging from Least-Squares Deconvolved profiles of circularly polarized and unpolarized spectral lines, is mostly poloidal and axisymmetric, with an average intensity of 550 ± 30 G. We also find that surface differential rotation, as derived from the large-scale field, is ≃30 per cent weaker than that of the Sun. We detect the radial velocity (RV) signatures of transiting planets b and c, although dwarfed by activity, and put an upper limit on that of candidate planet d, putatively causing the transit-timing variations of b and c. We also report the detection of the RV signature of a new candidate planet (e) orbiting further out with a period of 33.39 ± 0.10 d, i.e. near the 4:1 resonance with b. The RV signature of e is detected at 6.5σ while those of b and c show up at ≃4σ, yielding masses of $10.2^{+3.9}_{-2.7}$ and $14.2^{+4.8}_{-3.5}$ M⊕ for b and c, and a minimum mass of $35.2^{+6.7}_{-5.4}$ M⊕ for e.
ABSTRACT
In this paper, we study six slowly rotating mid-to-late M dwarfs (rotation period $P_{\mathrm{rot}}\approx 40-190\, \mathrm{d}$) by analysing spectropolarimetric data collected with ...SpectroPolarimetre InfraRouge (SPIRou) at the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope as part of the SPIRou Legacy Survey from 2019 to 2022. From ≈100–200 least-squares-deconvolved (LSD) profiles of circularly polarized spectra of each star, we confirm the stellar rotation periods of the six M dwarfs and explore their large-scale magnetic field topology and its evolution with time using both the method based on principal component analysis (PCA) proposed recently and Zeeman–Doppler imaging. All M dwarfs show large-scale field variations on the time-scale of their rotation periods, directly seen from the circularly polarized LSD profiles using the PCA method. We detect a magnetic polarity reversal for the fully convective M dwarf GJ 1151, and a possible inversion in progress for Gl 905. The four fully convective M dwarfs of our small sample (Gl 905, GJ 1289, GJ 1151, and GJ 1286) show a larger amount of temporal variations (mainly in field strength and axisymmetry) than the two partly convective ones (Gl 617B and Gl 408). Surprisingly, the six M dwarfs show large-scale field strengths in the range between 20 and 200 G similar to those of M dwarfs rotating significantly faster. Our findings imply that the large-scale fields of very slowly rotating M dwarfs are likely generated through dynamo processes operating in a different regime than those of the faster rotators that have been magnetically characterized so far.
ABSTRACT
We present near-infrared spectropolarimetric observations of a sample of 43 weakly to moderately active M dwarfs, carried with SPIRou at the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope in the framework ...of the SPIRou Legacy Survey from early 2019 to mid-2022. We use the 6700 circularly polarised spectra collected for this sample to investigate the longitudinal magnetic field and its temporal variations for all sample stars, from which we diagnose, through quasi-periodic Gaussian process regression, the periodic modulation and longer-term fluctuations of the longitudinal field. We detect the large-scale field for 40 of our 43 sample stars, and infer a reliable or tentative rotation period for 38 of them, using a Bayesian framework to diagnose the confidence level at which each rotation period is detected. We find rotation periods ranging from 14 to over 60 d for the early-M dwarfs, and from 70 to 200 d for most mid- and late-M dwarfs (potentially up to 430 d for one of them). We also find that the strength of the detected large-scale fields does not decrease with increasing period or Rossby number for the slowly rotating dwarfs of our sample as it does for higher-mass, more active stars, suggesting that these magnetic fields may be generated through a different dynamo regime than those of more rapidly rotating stars. We also show that the large-scale fields of most sample stars evolve on long time-scales, with some of them globally switching sign as stars progress on their putative magnetic cycles.
ABSTRACT
A key question in understanding the observed magnetic field topologies of cool stars is the link between the small- and the large-scale magnetic field and the influence of the stellar ...parameters on the magnetic field topology. We examine various simulated stars to connect the small scale with the observable large-scale field. The highly resolved 3D simulations we used couple a flux transport model with a non-potential coronal model using a magnetofrictional technique. The surface magnetic field of these simulations is decomposed into spherical harmonics which enables us to analyse the magnetic field topologies on a wide range of length scales and to filter the large-scale magnetic field for a direct comparison with the observations. We show that the large-scale field of the self-consistent simulations fits the observed solar-like stars and is mainly set up by the global dipolar field and the large-scale properties of the flux pattern, e.g. the averaged latitudinal position of the emerging small-scale field and its global polarity pattern. The stellar parameter flux emergence rate, differential rotation, and meridional flow affect the large-scale magnetic field topology. An increased flux emergence rate increases the magnetic flux in all field components and an increased differential rotation increases the toroidal field fraction by decreasing the poloidal field. The meridional flow affects the distribution of the magnetic energy across the spherical harmonic modes.
ABSTRACT
We are reaching the point where spectropolarimetric surveys have run for long enough to reveal solar-like magnetic activity cycles. In this paper, we investigate what would be the best ...strategy to identify solar-like magnetic cycles and ask which large-scale magnetic field parameters best follow a solar-type magnetic cycle and are observable with the Zeeman-Doppler-Imaging (ZDI) technique. We approach these questions using the 3D non-potential flux transport simulations of Yeates & Mackay (2012) modelling the solar vector magnetic field over 15 yr (centred on solar cycle 23). The flux emergence profile was extracted from solar synoptic maps and used as input for a photospheric flux transport model in combination with a non-potential coronal evolution model. We synthesize spectropolarimetric data from the simulated maps and reconstruct them using ZDI. The ZDI observed solar cycle is set into the context of other cool star observations and we present observable trends of the magnetic field topology with time, sunspot number, and S-index. We find that the axisymmetric energy fraction is the best parameter of the ZDI detectable large-scale field to trace solar-like cycles. Neither the surface averaged large-scale field or the total magnetic energy is appropriate. ZDI seems also to be able to recover the increase of the toroidal energy with S-index. We see further that ZDI might unveil hints of the dynamo modes that are operating and of the global properties of the small-scale flux emergence like active latitudes.
ABSTRACT
We present the results of an analysis aimed at probing the small-scale magnetic fields of M dwarfs observed with SPIRou, the nIR high-resolution spectro-polarimeter installed at the ...Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope, in the context of the SPIRou Legacy Survey. Our analysis relies on high-resolution median spectra built from several tens of spectra recorded between 2019 and 2022, and on synthetic spectra computed with the ZeeTurbo code for various combination of atmospheric parameters and magnetic field strengths. We pursue the efforts undertaken in a previous study and focus on 44 weakly to moderately active M dwarfs. We derive average magnetic field strengths ( ) ranging from 0.05 to 1.15 kG, in good agreement with activity estimates and rotation periods. We found that including magnetic fields in our models has virtually no impact on our derived atmospheric parameters, and that a priori assumptions on the stellar surface gravity can affect our estimated . Our results suggest that small-scale magnetic fields account for more than 70 per cent of the overall average magnetic field for most targets whose large-scale fields were previously measured. We derived low magnetic fluxes for several targets in our sample, and found no clear evidence that decreases with increasing Rossby number in the unsaturated dynamo regime. We even identified counterexamples (GJ 1289 and GJ 1286) where the small-scale field is unusually strong despite the long rotation period. Along with similar results on the large-scale fields, our findings further suggest that dynamo processes may operate in a non-conventional mode in these strongly magnetic, slowly rotating stars.
Aims Victimisation by the police is purported to be widespread in cities in the USA, but there is limited data on police-public encounters from community samples. This is partly due to an absence of ...measures for assessing police violence exposure from the standpoint of civilians. As such, the demographic distribution and mental health correlates of police victimisation are poorly understood. The aims of this study were to present community-based prevalence estimates of positive policing and police victimisation based on assessment with two novel measures, and to test the hypotheses that (1) exposure to police victimisation would vary across demographic groups and (2) would be associated with depression and psychological distress.
The Survey of Police-Public Encounters study surveyed adults residing in four US cities to examine the prevalence, demographic distribution and psychological correlates of police victimisation. Participants (N = 1615) completed measures of psychological distress (K-6 scale), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire 9) and two newly constructed measures of civilian-reported police-public encounters. Both measures were developed to assess police victimisation based on the WHO domains of violence, which include physical violence (with and without a weapon, assessed separately), sexual violence (inappropriate sexual contact, including public strip searches), psychological violence (e.g., threatening, intimidating, stopping without cause, or using discriminatory slurs) and neglect (police not responding when called or responding too late). The Police Practices Inventory assesses lifetime history of exposure to positive policing and police victimisation, and the Expectations of Police Practices Scale assesses the perceived likelihood of future incidents of police victimisation. Linear regression models were used to test for associations between police-public encounters and psychological distress and depression.
Psychological violence (18.6%) and police neglect (18.8%) were commonly reported in this sample and a substantial minority of respondents also reported more severe forms of violence, specifically physical (6.1%), sexual (2.8%) and physical with a weapon (3.3%). Police victimisation was more frequently reported by racial/ethnic minorities, males, transgender respondents and younger adults. Nearly all forms of victimisation (but not positive policing) were associated with psychological distress and depression in adjusted linear regression models.
Victimisation by police appears to be widespread, inequitably distributed across demographic groups and psychologically impactful. These findings suggest that public health efforts to both reduce the prevalence of police violence and to alleviate its psychological impact may be needed, particularly in disadvantaged urban communities.