From Solar-like to Mira stars: a unifying description of stellar pulsators in the presence of stochastic noise

TL;DR

This paper presents a unified model for stellar pulsations across different star types, explaining power spectral density features and classifying stars based on their pulsation driving mechanisms, with applications to Mira and semiregular variables.

Contribution

The study introduces a comprehensive model that describes stellar pulsations with stochastic noise, unifying different pulsator classes and validating it through numerical simulations and observational data.

Findings

Power spectral density limit approximated by Lorentzian functions.

Classification of stars into stochastic and coherent pulsators.

Scaling relation between mode line width and temperature confirmed.

Abstract

We discuss and characterise the power spectral density properties of a model aimed at describing pulsations in stars from the main-sequence to the asymptotic giant branch. We show that the predicted limit of the power spectral density for a pulsation mode in the presence of stochastic noise is always well approximated by a Lorentzian function. While in stars predominantly stochastically driven the width of the Lorentzian is defined by the mode lifetime, in stars where the driving is predominately coherent the width is defined by the amplitude of the stochastic perturbations. In stars where both drivings are comparable, the width is defined by both these parameters and is smaller than that expected from pure stochastic driving. We illustrate our model through numerical simulations and propose a well defined classification of stars into predominantly stochastic (solar-like) and predominately coherent (classic) pulsators. We apply the model to the study of the Mira variable U Per, and the semiregular variable L2 Pup and, following our classification, conclude that they are both classical pulsators. Our model provides a natural explanation for the change in behaviour of the pulsation amplitude-period relation noted in several earlier works. Moreover, our study of L2 Pup enables us to test the scaling relation between the mode line width and effective temperature, confirming that an exponential scaling reproduces well the data all the way from the main sequence to the asymptotic giant branch, down to temperatures about 1000 K below what has been tested in previous studies.