New Suns in the Cosmos IV: the multifractal nature of stellar magnetic activity in textit{Kepler} cool stars


Abstract in English

In the present study, we investigate the multifractal nature of a long-cadence time series observed by the textit{Kepler} mission for a sample of 34 M dwarf stars and the Sun in its active phase. Using the Multifractal Detrending Moving Average algorithm (MFDMA), which enables the detection of multifractality in nonstationary time series, we define a set of multifractal indices based on the multifractal spectrum profile as a measure of the level of stellar magnetic activity. This set of indices is given by the ($A$,$Delta alpha$,$C$,$H$)-quartet, where $A$, $Delta alpha$ and $C$ are related to geometric features from the multifractal spectrum and the global Hurst exponent $H$ describes the global structure and memorability of time series dynamics. As a test, we measure these indices and compare them with a magnetic index defined as $S_{ph}$ and verify the degree of correlation among them. First, we apply the Poincare plot method and find a strong correlation between the $leftlangle S_{ph}rightrangle$ index and one of the descriptors that emerges from this method. As a result, we find that this index is strongly correlated with long-term features of the signal. From the multifractal perspective, the $leftlangle S_{ph}rightrangle$ index is also strongly linked to the geometric properties of the multifractal spectrum except for the $H$ index. Furthermore, our results emphasize that the rotation period of stars is scaled by the $H$ index, which is consistent with Skumanichs relationship. Finally, our approach suggests that the $H$ index may be related to the evolution of stellar angular momentum and a stars magnetic properties.

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