The Pencil Code is a highly modular physics-oriented simulation code that can be adapted to a wide range of applications. It is primarily designed to solve partial differential equations (PDEs) of compressible hydrodynamics and has lots of add-ons ranging from astrophysical magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) to meteorological cloud microphysics and engineering applications in combustion. Nevertheless, the framework is general and can also be applied to situations not related to hydrodynamics or even PDEs, for example when just the message passing interface or input/output strategies of the code are to be used. The code can also evolve Lagrangian (inertial and noninertial) particles, their coagulation and condensation, as well as their interaction with the fluid.

Recent spectropolarimetric observations of otherwise ordinary G, K, and M giants revealed localized magnetic strips in the HRD coincident with the regions where the first dredge-up and core He-burning occur. We seek to understand the origin of magnetic fields in such late-type giant stars. In analogy with late-type dwarf stars, we focus primarily on parameters known to influence the generation of magnetic fields in the outer convective envelope. We compute the classical dynamo parameters along the evolutionary tracks of low- and intermediate-mass stars at various metallicities using stellar models that have been extensively tested by spectroscopic and asteroseismic observations. These include convective turnover timescales and convective Rossby numbers, computed from the PMS to the tip of the RGB or the early AGB. To investigate the effects of the very extended outer convective envelope, we compute these parameters both for the entire convective envelope and locally, that is, at different depths within the envelope. We also compute the turnover timescales and corresponding Rossby numbers for the convective cores of intermediate-mass stars on the main sequence. Our models show that the Rossby number of the convective envelope becomes lower than unity in the well-delimited locations of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram where magnetic fields have indeed been detected. We show that alpha-omega dynamo processes might not be continuously operating, but that they are favored in the stellar convective envelope at two specific moments along the evolution tracks, that is, during the first dredge-up at the base of the RGB and during central helium burning in the helium-burning phase and early-AGB. This general behavior can explain the so-called magnetic strips recently discovered by dedicated spectropolarimetric surveys of evolved stars.

Context.Recent spectropolarimetric observations of otherwise ordinary (in terms e.g. of surface rotation and chemical properties) G, K, and M giants have revealed localized magnetic strips in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram coincident with the regions where the first dredge-up and core helium burning occur.Aims.We seek to understand the origin of magnetic fields in such late-type giant stars, which is currently unexplained. In analogy with late-type dwarf stars, we focus primarily on parameters known to influence the generation of magnetic fields in the outer convective envelope.Methods.We compute the classical dynamo parameters along the evolutionary tracks of low- and intermediate-mass stars at various metallicities using stellar models that have been extensively tested by spectroscopic and asteroseismic observations. Specifically, these include convective turnover timescales and convective Rossby numbers, computed from the pre-main sequence (PMS) to the tip of the red giant branch (RGB) or the early asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase. To investigate the effects of the very extended outer convective envelope, we compute these parameters both for the entire convective envelope and locally, that is, at different depths within the envelope. We also compute the turnover timescales and corresponding Rossby numbers for the convective cores of intermediate-mass stars on the main sequence.Results.Our models show that the Rossby number of the convective envelope becomes lower than unity in the well-delimited locations of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram where magnetic fields have indeed been detected.Conclusions.We show thatα− Ω dynamo processes might not be continuously operating, but that they are favored in the stellar convective envelope at two specific moments along the evolution tracks, that is, during the first dredge-up at the base of the RGB and during central helium burning in the helium-burning phase and early-AGB. This general behavior can explain the so-called magnetic strips recently discovered by dedicated spectropolarimetric surveys of evolved stars.

We present 3D simulations of the coupling between surface convection and pulsations due to the kappa-mechanism in classical Cepheids of the red edge of Hertzsprung-Russell diagram's instability strip. We show that 3D convection is less powerful than 2D convection and does not quench the radiative pulsations, leading to an efficient 3D kappa-mechanism. Thus, the 3D instability strip is closer to the observed one than the 1D or 2D were.

We compare simple analytical closure models of homogeneous turbulent Boussinesq convection for stellar applications with three-dimensional simulations. We use simple analytical closure models to compute the fluxes of angular momentum and heat as a function of rotation rate measured by the Taylor number. We also investigate cases with varying angles between the angular velocity and gravity vectors, corresponding to locating the computational domain at different latitudes ranging from the pole to the equator of the star. We perform three-dimensional numerical simulations in the same parameter regimes for comparison. The free parameters appearing in the closure models are calibrated by two fitting methods using simulation data. Unique determination of the closure parameters is possible only in the non-rotating case or when the system is placed at the pole. In the other cases the fit procedures yield somewhat differing results. The quality of the closure is tested by substituting the resulting coefficients back into the closure model and comparing with the simulation results. To eliminate the possibilities that the results obtained depend on the aspect ratio of the simulation domain or suffer from too small Rayleigh numbers we performed runs varying these parameters. The simulation data for the Reynolds stress and heat fluxes broadly agree with previous compressible simulations. The closure works fairly well with slow and fast rotation but its quality degrades for intermediate rotation rates. We find that the closure parameters depend not only on rotation rate but also on latitude. The weak dependence on Rayleigh number and the aspect ratio of the domain indicates that our results are generally valid

We investigate the magnetic field at the surface of 48 red giants selected as promising for detection of Stokes V Zeeman signatures in their spectral lines. We use the spectropolarimeters Narval and ESPaDOnS to detect circular polarization within the photospheric absorption lines of our targets and use the least-squares deconvolution (LSD) method. We also measure the classical S-index activity indicator, and the stellar radial velocity. To infer the evolutionary status of our giants and to interpret our results, we use state-of-the-art stellar evolutionary models with predictions of convective turnover times. We unambiguously detect magnetic fields via Zeeman signatures in 29 of the 48 red giants in our sample. Zeeman signatures are found in all but one of the 24 red giants exhibiting signs of activity, as well as 6 out of 17 bright giant stars.The majority of the magnetically detected giants are either in the first dredge up phase or at the beginning of core He burning, i.e. phases when the convective turnover time is at a maximum: this corresponds to a 'magnetic strip' for red giants in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. A close study of the 16 giants with known rotational periods shows that the measured magnetic field strength is tightly correlated with the rotational properties, namely to the rotational period and to the Rossby number Ro. Our results show that the magnetic fields of these giants are produced by a dynamo. Four stars for which the magnetic field is measured to be outstandingly strong with respect to that expected from the rotational period/magnetic field relation or their evolutionary status are interpreted as being probable descendants of magnetic Ap stars. In addition to the weak-field giant Pollux, 4 bright giants (Aldebaran, Alphard, Arcturus, eta Psc) are detected with magnetic field strength at the sub-gauss level.

We present the results of a major high-resolution spectropolarimetric BCool project magnetic survey of 170 solar-type stars. Surface magnetic fields were detected on 67 stars, with 21 classified as mature solar-type stars, a result that increases by a factor of 4 the number of mature solar-type stars on which magnetic fields have been observed. In addition, a magnetic field was detected for 3 out of 18 of the subgiant stars surveyed. For the population of K-dwarfs, the mean value of vertical bar B-l vertical bar (vertical bar B-l vertical bar(mean)) was also found to be higher (5.7 G) than vertical bar B-l vertical bar(mean) measured for the G-dwarfs (3.2 G) and the F-dwarfs (3.3 G). For the sample as a whole, vertical bar B-l vertical bar(mean) increases with rotation rate and decreases with age, and the upper envelope for vertical bar B-l vertical bar correlates well with the observed chromospheric emission. Stars with a chromospheric S-index greater than about 0.2 show a high magnetic field detection rate and so offer optimal targets for future studies. This survey constitutes the most extensive spectropolarimetric survey of cool stars undertaken to date, and suggests that it is feasible to pursue magnetic mapping of a wide range of moderately active solar-type stars to improve our understanding of their surface fields and dynamos.

A B ST R A C T W e presenthere additionalresultsofa spectropolarim etric survey ofa sm allsam ple ofstarsranging from spectraltype M 0 to M 8 aim ed atinvestigating observationally how dynam o processesoperatein starson both sidesofthefullconvection threshold (spectraltypeM 4). The presentpaperfocuseson early M stars(M 0{M 3),i.e.abovethe fullconvec- tion threshold.Applyingtom ographicim agingtechniquestotim eseriesofrotationally m odulated circularly polarised prolescollected with the NARVAL spectropolarim e- ter,wedeterm inetherotation period and reconstructthelarge-scalem agnetictopolo- gies of6 early M dwarfs.W end that early-M stars preferentially host large-scale � eldswith dom inantly toroidaland non-axisym m etric poloidalcongurations,along with signicantdierentialrotation (and long-term variability);only thelowest-m ass starofoursubsam pleisfound to hostan alm ostfully poloidal,m ainly axisym m etric large-scaleeld ressem bling thosefound in m id-M dwarfs. Thisabruptchangein thelarge-scalem agnetictopologiesofM dwarfs(occuringat spectraltypeM 3)hasno related signatureon X-ray lum inosities(m easuring thetotal am ountofm agnetic ux);itthussuggeststhatunderlying dynam o processesbecom e m ore ecient at producing large-scaleelds (despite producing the sam e ux) at spectraltypeslaterthan M 3.W esuspectthatthischangerelatestotherapid decrease in theradiativecoresoflow-m assstarsand to thesim ultaneoussharp increaseofthe convectiveturnovertim es(with decreasing stellarm ass)thatm odelspredictto occur atM 3;itm ay also be (atleastpartly)responsible forthe reduced m agnetic braking reported forfully-convectivestars. K ey w ords: stars:m agneticelds{stars:low-m ass{stars:rotation {stars:activity { techniques:spectropolarim etry

Phase-resolved observations of the solar-type star Ksi Bootis A were obtained using the NARVAL spectropolarimeter at the Telescope Bernard Lyot (Pic du Midi, France) during years 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. The data sets enable us to study both the rotational modulation and the long-term evolution of various magnetic and activity tracers. Here, we focus on the large-scale photospheric magnetic field (reconstructed by Zeeman-Doppler Imaging), the Zeeman broadening of the FeI 846.84 nm magnetic line, and the chromospheric CaII H and H alpha emission.

Solar twins have been a focus of attention for more than a decade, because their structure is extremely close to that of the Sun. Today, thanks to high-precision spectrometers, it is possible to use asteroseismology to probe their interiors. Our goal is to use time series obtained from the HARPS spectrometer to extract the oscillation frequencies of 18 Sco, the brightest solar twin. We used the tools of spectral analysis to estimate these quantities. We estimate 52 frequencies using an MCMC algorithm. After examination of their probability densities and comparison with results from direct MAP optimization, we obtain a minimal set of 21 reliable modes. The identification of each pulsation mode is straightforwardly accomplished by comparing to the well-established solar pulsation modes. We also derived some basic seismic indicators using these values. These results offer a good basis to start a detailed seismic analysis of 18 Sco using stellar models.

In cold Cepheids close to the red edge of the classical instability strip, a strong coupling between the stellar pulsations and the surface convective motions occurs. This coupling is by now poorly described by 1-D models of convection, the so-called "time-dependent convection models" (TDC). The intrinsic weakness of such models comes from the large number of unconstrained free parameters entering in the description of turbulent convection. A way to overcome these limits is to compute two-dimensional direct simulations (DNS), in which all the nonlinearities are correctly solved. Two-dimensional DNS of the convection-pulsation coupling are presented here. In an appropriate parameter regime, convective motions can actually quench the radial pulsations of the star, as suspected in Cepheids close to the red edge of the instability strip. These nonlinear simulations can also be used to determine the limits and the relevance of the TDC models.