Magnetic Fields in O, B, and A Stars: (AAS-IOP Astronomy)

The last few decades have seen significant progress in our understanding of the occurrence of magnetic fields in stars with radiative envelopes, in particular in massive stars and in intermediate mass stars at early evolutionary stages. This book provides a comprehensive review of the most recent achievements in the measurements of stellar magnetic fields in O, B and A stars. These include the archetypes of stellar magnetism, the chemically peculiar Ap and Bp stars, O- and early B-type stars with their magnetospheres, accreting Herbig Ae/Be stars, Wolf-Rayet stars and high-mass X-ray binaries, among others. It provides an overview of the underlying physics for the interpretation of the data and identifies the requirements, both observational and theoretical, for improving our understanding of the origin of the magnetic fields in early-type stars. It aims to educate scientists working on stars, who are not yet experts in magnetic field studies, assuming that the reader is already familiar with basic terms and concepts of stellar astrophysics. Key Features Provides a comprehensive review of the field for researchers and students Gives an overview of the underlying physics for the interpretation of data Identifies requirements for understanding the origin of magnetic fields in early-type stars First research-level book on the topic Written by experts in the field of stellar magnetism

Table of Contents:
Preface 1 Introduction 2 Basics of Stellar Magnetic Field Studies 3 Observing Magnetic Fields 4 Ap/Bp Stars 5 O- and Early B-type Stars 6 Herbig Ae/Be Stars 7 Other Objects 8 Final Remarks

About the Author :
Swetlana Hubrig studied astronomy at St. Petersburg university and started her professional work at the Zentralinstitut für Astrophysik in Potsdam, where she obtained her PhD in 1989. During the 1990s, she held several positions and grants, both at the Potsdam university and the Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam (AIP), habilitating at the university in 2000. From 2001, she worked as operations staff astronomer for the European Southern Observatory on the Very Large Telescope, until she moved back to the Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam to become the head of the stellar physics and stellar activity department in 2009. Swetlana is working on many aspects of the magnetism in stars and is an expert in high resolution spectroscopy. Markus Schöller studied physics at the universities in Köln and Bonn, where he obtained his PhD in 1996, working at the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie. Markus joined the European Southern Observatory in 1997, where he mainly works on the Very Large Telescope Interferometer and its scientific instruments. His main science interests are binarity and the magnetism in stars and he specializes in high angular resolution techniques.

Review :
The ‘AAS–IoP Astronomy ebooks’ series, to which this volume is a recent addition, is rapidly becoming established as a major source of specialized monographs, with more than 30 books already available at the time of writing, and a similar number in preparation (according to the series’ website). Many (though not all) of the titles are so specialized that in days past one may have associated them with review papers, not books. The volume under review is no exception. The authors are able to review the literature (to which they are substantial contributors) rather thoroughly, incorporating a lot of detail on individual objects. I was left wondering who would want to work through such an exhaustive treatise; the stated aim is “to educate scientists working on [early-type] stars, who are not yet expert in magnetic field studies”. Well, okay, though I’d have thought that active researchers will already be familiar with the material, while those outside the field may find it hard to see the wood for the trees. Perhaps the answer is new postgraduate students about to undertake a relevant project, though that can’t be more than a handful of people each year. In any case, this is really a book for the specialist, although a couple of introductory chapters provide a more general introduction to the principles and practice of magnetic-field measurement thatmay be of wider interest. Ian D. Howarth, April 2022, The Observatory