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Title: THE RADIUS DISCREPANCY IN LOW-MASS STARS: SINGLE VERSUS BINARIES

Abstract

A long-standing issue in the theory of low-mass stars is the discrepancy between predicted and observed radii and effective temperatures. In spite of the increasing availability of very precise radius determinations from eclipsing binaries and interferometric measurements of radii of single stars, there is no unanimous consensus on the extent (or even the existence) of the discrepancy and on its connection with other stellar properties (e.g., metallicity, magnetic activity). We investigate the radius discrepancy phenomenon using the best data currently available (accuracy ∼< 5%). We have constructed a grid of stellar models covering the entire range of low-mass stars (0.1-1.25 M{sub ☉}) and various choices of the metallicity and mixing length parameter, α. We used an improved version of the Yale Rotational stellar Evolution Code, implementing surface boundary conditions based on the most up-to-date PHOENIX atmosphere models. Our models are in good agreement with others in the literature and improve and extend the low mass end of the Yale-Yonsei isochrones. Our calculations include rotation-related quantities, such as moments of inertia and convective turnover timescales, useful in studies of magnetic activity and rotational evolution of solar-like stars. Consistent with previous works, we find that both binaries and single stars have radiimore » inflated by about 3% with respect to the theoretical models; among binaries, the components of short orbital period systems are found to be the most deviant. We conclude that both binaries and single stars are comparably affected by the radius discrepancy phenomenon.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, D-14482, Potsdam (Germany)
  2. Department of Astronomy, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8101 (United States)
  3. Yonsei University Observatory and Astronomy Department, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749 (Korea, Republic of)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22270771
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 776; Journal Issue: 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; ACCURACY; ASTRONOMY; ASTROPHYSICS; BINARY STARS; BOUNDARY CONDITIONS; ECLIPSE; MASS; MOMENT OF INERTIA; ROTATION; STAR EVOLUTION; STAR MODELS; STARS; SURFACES

Citation Formats

Spada, F., Demarque, P., Kim, Y. -C., and Sills, A., E-mail: fspada@aip.de. THE RADIUS DISCREPANCY IN LOW-MASS STARS: SINGLE VERSUS BINARIES. United States: N. p., 2013. Web. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/776/2/87.
Spada, F., Demarque, P., Kim, Y. -C., & Sills, A., E-mail: fspada@aip.de. THE RADIUS DISCREPANCY IN LOW-MASS STARS: SINGLE VERSUS BINARIES. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/776/2/87
Spada, F., Demarque, P., Kim, Y. -C., and Sills, A., E-mail: fspada@aip.de. 2013. "THE RADIUS DISCREPANCY IN LOW-MASS STARS: SINGLE VERSUS BINARIES". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/776/2/87.
@article{osti_22270771,
title = {THE RADIUS DISCREPANCY IN LOW-MASS STARS: SINGLE VERSUS BINARIES},
author = {Spada, F. and Demarque, P. and Kim, Y. -C. and Sills, A., E-mail: fspada@aip.de},
abstractNote = {A long-standing issue in the theory of low-mass stars is the discrepancy between predicted and observed radii and effective temperatures. In spite of the increasing availability of very precise radius determinations from eclipsing binaries and interferometric measurements of radii of single stars, there is no unanimous consensus on the extent (or even the existence) of the discrepancy and on its connection with other stellar properties (e.g., metallicity, magnetic activity). We investigate the radius discrepancy phenomenon using the best data currently available (accuracy ∼< 5%). We have constructed a grid of stellar models covering the entire range of low-mass stars (0.1-1.25 M{sub ☉}) and various choices of the metallicity and mixing length parameter, α. We used an improved version of the Yale Rotational stellar Evolution Code, implementing surface boundary conditions based on the most up-to-date PHOENIX atmosphere models. Our models are in good agreement with others in the literature and improve and extend the low mass end of the Yale-Yonsei isochrones. Our calculations include rotation-related quantities, such as moments of inertia and convective turnover timescales, useful in studies of magnetic activity and rotational evolution of solar-like stars. Consistent with previous works, we find that both binaries and single stars have radii inflated by about 3% with respect to the theoretical models; among binaries, the components of short orbital period systems are found to be the most deviant. We conclude that both binaries and single stars are comparably affected by the radius discrepancy phenomenon.},
doi = {10.1088/0004-637X/776/2/87},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22270771}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal},
issn = {0004-637X},
number = 2,
volume = 776,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Oct 20 00:00:00 EDT 2013},
month = {Sun Oct 20 00:00:00 EDT 2013}
}