CFHT UM2025 - Presentation Details
Abstract Details
Title: The MiMeS Survey of Magnetism in Stars: Classical Be Stars
Presenter: Patrick Stanley
Abstract:
Magnetism in massive stars has been extensively studied in recent decades by spectropolarimetric surveys, with instruments such as ESPaDOnS@CFHT making invaluable contributions. The consensus of these surveys is that roughly 10% of massive stars have strong, globally organized magnetic fields whose origin is not well understood. However this 10% magnetic incidence is seemingly not present for Classical Be stars whose rapid rotation and presence of a Keplerian disk make validation and interpretation of magnetic measurements difficult. Thus, no Classical Be stars have been found to possess unambiguously-detected magnetic fields. In this contribution, I will discuss the magnetic analysis of the MiMeS Classical Be star samples using a combination of synthetic spectra and observed spectropolarimetric data. I will also discuss the characterization of the magnetic upper limits using a Bayesian statistical methodology to determine if Classical Be stars are truly inconsistent with the 10% magnetic incidence observed for other massive stars.