The coronal structure of AB Doradus

Abstract

We perform a numerical simulation of the corona of the young, rapidly rotating K0 dwarf AB Doradus using a global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model. The model is driven by a surface map of the radial magnetic field constructed using Zeeman-Doppler Imaging.We find that the global structure of the stellar corona is dominated by strong azimuthal tangling of the magnetic field due to the rapid rotation. The MHD solution enables us to calculate realistic Alfvén surfaces, and we can therefore estimate the stellar mass loss rate and angular momentum loss rate without making undue theoretical simplifications. We consider three cases, parameterized by the base density of the corona, that span the range of possible solutions for the system. We find that overall the mass and angular momentum loss rates are higher than in the solar case; the mass loss rates are 10-500 times higher, and the angular momentum loss rate can be up to 3 × 104 higher than present-day solar values. Our simulations show that this model can be used to constrain the wide parameter space of stellar systems. It also shows that an MHD approach can provide more information about the physical system over the commonly used potential field extrapolation. © 2010. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.