Aims: We develop a method for estimating the properties of stellar winds for low-mass main-sequence stars between masses of 0.4 and 1.1 solar masses at a range of distances from the star. Methods: We use 1D thermal pressure driven hydrodynamic wind
models run using the Versatile Advection Code. Using in situ measurements of the solar wind, we produce models for the slow and fast components of the solar wind. We consider two radically different methods for scaling the base temperature of the wind to other stars: in Model A, we assume that wind temperatures are fundamentally linked to coronal temperatures, and in Model B, we assume that the sound speed at the base of the wind is a fixed fraction of the escape velocity. In Paper II of this series, we use observationally constrained rotational evolution models to derive wind mass loss rates. Results: Our model for the solar wind provides an excellent description of the real solar wind far from the solar surface, but is unrealistic within the solar corona. We run a grid of 1200 wind models to derive relations for the wind properties as a function of stellar mass, radius, and wind temperature. Using these results, we explore how wind properties depend on stellar mass and rotation. Conclusions: Based on our two assumptions about the scaling of the wind temperature, we argue that there is still significant uncertainty in how these properties should be determined. Resolution of this uncertainty will probably require both the application of solar wind physics to other stars and detailed observational constraints on the properties of stellar winds. In the final section of this paper, we give step by step instructions for how to apply our results to calculate the stellar wind conditions far from the stellar surface.
In atmospheres of magnetic main-sequence stars, the diffusion of chemical elements leads to a number of observed anomalies, such as abundance spots across the stellar surface. The aim of this study was to derive a detailed picture of the surface abun
dance distribution of the magnetic chemically peculiar star HD 3980. Based on high-resolution, phase-resolved spectroscopic observations of the magnetic A-type star HD 3980, the inhomogeneous surface distribution of 13 chemical elements (Li, O, Si, Ca, Cr, Mn, Fe, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Eu, and Gd) has been reconstructed. The INVERS12 code was used to invert the rotational variability in line profiles to elemental surface distributions. Assuming a centered, dominantly dipolar magnetic field configuration, we find that Li, O, Mg, Pr, and Nd are mainly concentrated in the area of the magnetic poles and depleted in the regions around the magnetic equator. The high abundance spots of Si, La, Ce, Eu, and Gd are located between the magnetic poles and the magnetic equator. Except for La, which is clearly depleted in the area of the magnetic poles, no obvious correlation with the magnetic field has been found for these elements otherwise. Ca, Cr, and Fe appear enhanced along the rotational equator and the area around the magnetic poles. The intersection between the magnetic and the rotational equator constitutes an exception, especially for Ca and Cr, which are depleted in that region. No obvious correlation between the theoretically predicted abundance patterns and those determined in this study could be found. This can be attributed to a lack of up-to-date theoretical models, especially for rare earth elements.
