Electron Scattering Emission in the Light Curves of Stars with Centrifugal Magnetospheres

TL;DR

This paper models how electron scattering in centrifugal magnetospheres of magnetic, rapidly rotating B-type stars can produce emission features in their light curves, explaining observed phenomena like emission bumps.

Contribution

It introduces a radiative transfer model that explains emission in light curves of CM stars via electron scattering, extending the Rigidly Rotating Magnetosphere model with a new density scaling.

Findings

Emission bumps of ~0.05 magnitude can be produced with optical depth around unity.

The model reproduces observed features in stars like $\sigma$ Ori E.

Parameter space exploration shows conditions for emission features.

Abstract

Strongly magnetic, rapidly rotating B-type stars with relatively weak winds form centrifugal magnetospheres (CMs), as the stellar wind becomes magnetically confined above the Kepler co-rotation radius. Approximating the magnetic field as a dipole tilted by an angle $\beta$ with respect to the rotation axis, the CM plasma is concentrated in clouds at and above the Kepler radius along the intersection of the rotational and magnetic equatorial planes. Stellar rotation can bring such clouds in front of the stellar disk, leading to absorption of order 0.1 magnitude ($\sim 10 \%$ of continuum flux). However some stars with prominent CMs, such as $\sigma$ Ori E, show an emission bump in addition to absorption dips, which has been so far unexplained. We show that emission can occur from electron scattering toward the observer when CM clouds are projected off the stellar limb. Using the Rigidly Rotating Magnetosphere model, modified with a centrifugal breakout density scaling, we present a model grid of photometric light curves spanning parameter space in observer inclination angle $i$, magnetic obliquity angle $\beta$, critical rotation fraction $W$, and optical depth at the Kepler radius $\tau_{\text{K}}$. We show that $\tau_{\text{K}}$ of order unity can produce emission bumps of the magnitude $\sim 0.05$ seen in $\sigma$ Ori E. We discuss the implications for modeling the light curves of CM stars, as well as future work for applying the radiative transfer model developed here to 3D MHD simulations of CMs.