The rotational evolution of low-mass stars

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent observational and theoretical advances in understanding how low-mass stars, from solar-like to hydrogen-burning limits, change their rotation rates over time, emphasizing new data and modeling efforts.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive summary of recent observational data and models on the rotational evolution of low-mass stars, highlighting areas needing further research.

Findings

Large-scale surveys have enabled rotation period measurements for many cluster stars.

Current models can interpret the observed rotational behaviors.

Gaps remain in data for very low-mass stars and older ages.

Abstract

We summarise recent progress in the understanding of the rotational evolution of low-mass stars (here defined as solar mass down to the hydrogen burning limit) both in terms of observations and modelling. Wide-field imaging surveys on moderate-size telescopes can now efficiently derive rotation periods for hundreds to thousands of open cluster members, providing unprecedented sample sizes which are ripe for exploration. We summarise the available measurements, and provide simple phenomenological and model-based interpretations of the presently-available data, while highlighting regions of parameter space where more observations are required, particularly at the lowest masses and ages >~ 500 Myr.