Stellar chromospheric and coronal heating by magnetohydrodynamic waves

Abstract

An investigation is presented on the way in which the generation of magnetohydrodynamic waves by turbulent motions in stellar convection zones depends on the star's effective temperature, surface gravity, and magnetic field strength. It is shown that the emitted Alfven wave flux (and acoustic slow wave flux in a very strong magnetic field) is in reasonable agreement with the general trend of observed chromospheric radiative losses in stars, and with the observations of three stars for which magnetic field strength, surface area covered by strong fields, and radiative losses have all been measured.