How does stellar metallicity affect stellar magnetic activity, rotation and exoplanet atmospheres?
The magnetic fields of low-mass stars are responsible for a wide range of important phenomena including high energy coronal emissions and angular momentum-loss via stellar winds. In turn, these phenomena play a large role in the evolution of stars, as well as any exoplanets they host, over billion year time-scales. However, the mechanisms that drive magnetic field generation in low-mass stars are still poorly understood. One method of probing the operation of stellar dynamos is to investigate how magnetic activity levels depend on the fundamental parameters of stars. Many studies have shown that rapidly rotating stars and lower mass stars are more magnetically active than slowly rotating and higher mass stars. However, until recently, our understanding of how activity scales with stellar metallicity has been limited. In this talk, I will present empirical results and numerical modelling that show how stellar metallicity affects stellar magnetic activity, stellar rotation evolution and the knock on impacts for exoplanet atmospheres.
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