Physics Colloquium: Rotation, Magnetism, and Mass Loss of Sun-Like Stars

Professor Sean Matt from the University of Exeter will present a colloquium on "Rotation, Magnetism, and Mass Loss of Sun-Like Stars". The event is open to the campus community, but assumes 1-2 years of physics courses as background. Come early for cookies with the Physics Club, starting at 4:10!

Abstract: An enormous amount of what we know about the universe and our own place on Earth depends on our understanding of stars. Yet, even for the most familiar stars, there are still major unsolved questions related to rotation, magnetic activity, and mass loss. I will discuss an emerging picture that self-consistently links all of these processes together and to the overall evolution of Sun-like and low-mass stars. This progress is due to large and diverse new datasets, advances in physical models for the loss of angular momentum (which depends upon magnetism and mass loss), and the incorporation of these models into long-term stellar evolution calculations.