Exploring the stellar rotation of early-type stars in the LAMOST Medium-Resolution Survey. II. Statistics

TL;DR

This study analyzes the rotation rates of early-type stars using LAMOST data, revealing mass-dependent distributions and metallicity-related differences, including the emergence of bimodal rotation in more massive and metal-rich stars.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed statistical analysis of stellar rotation distributions considering mass and metallicity effects in early-type stars.

Findings

Stars below 2.5 solar masses have unimodal rotation distributions.

A bimodal rotation distribution appears in stars above 2.5 solar masses.

Metal-poor stars show only slow rotator branch, while metal-rich stars show two branches.

Abstract

Angular momentum is a key property regulating star formation and evolution. However, the physics driving the distribution of the stellar rotation rates of early-type main-sequence stars is as yet poorly understood. Using our catalog of 40,034 early-type stars with homogeneous $v\sin i$ parameters, we review the statistical properties of their stellar rotation rates. We discuss the importance of possible contaminants, including binaries and chemically peculiar stars. Upon correction for projection effects and rectification of the error distribution, we derive the distributions of our sample's equatorial rotation velocities, which show a clear dependence on stellar mass. Stars with masses less than $2.5\ {M_\odot}$ exhibit a unimodal distribution, with the peak velocity ratio increasing as stellar mass increases. A bimodal rotation distribution, composed of two branches of slowly and rapidly rotating stars, emerges for more massive stars ($M>2.5\ {M_\odot}$). For stars more massive than $3.0\ {M_\odot}$, the gap between the bifurcated branches becomes prominent. For the first time, we find that metal-poor ([M/H] $< -0.2$ dex) stars only exhibit a single branch of slow rotators, while metal-rich ([M/H] $> 0.2$ dex) stars clearly show two branches. The difference could be attributed to unexpectedly high spin-down rates and/or in part strong magnetic fields in the metal-poor subsample.