Evolution of rotational velocities of A-type stars

TL;DR

This paper investigates the evolution of rotational velocities in A-type stars, showing how angular momentum transport and core-envelope decoupling influence their acceleration and deceleration during the main sequence phase.

Contribution

It presents a model explaining the observed changes in stellar rotation velocities through differential rotation and angular momentum redistribution during the main sequence.

Findings

Equatorial velocity accelerates in early MS due to outward angular momentum transport.

Velocity decreases in late MS as core and envelope decouple and expand.

The model reproduces observed velocity trends without assuming external angular momentum loss.

Abstract

It was found that the equatorial velocity of A-type stars undergoes an acceleration in the first third of the main sequence (MS) stage, but the velocity decreases as if the stars were not undergoing any redistribution of angular momentum in the external layers in the last stage of the MS phase. Our calculations show that the acceleration and the decrease of the equatorial velocity can be reproduced by the evolution of the differential rotation zero-age MS model with the angular momentum transport caused by hydrodynamic instabilities during the MS stage. The acceleration results from the fact that the angular momentum stored in the interiors of the stars is transported outwards. In the last stage, the core and the radiative envelope are uncoupling, and the rotation of the envelope is a quasi-solid rotation; the uncoupling and the expansion of the envelope lead to that the decrease of the equatorial velocity approximately follows the slope for the change in the equatorial velocity of the model without any redistribution of angular momentum. When the fractional age 0.3 $\lesssim\mathrm{t/t_{MS}}\lesssim$ 0.5, the equatorial velocity remains almost constant for the stars whose central density increases with age in the early stage of the MS phase, while the velocity decreases with age for the stars whose central density decreases with age in the early stage of the MS phase.