Differential rotation, flares and coronae in A to M stars

Kepler data are used to investigate flares in stars of all spectral types. There is a strong tendency across all spectral types for the most energetic flares to occur among the most rapidly rotating stars. Differential rotation could conceivably play an important role in enhancing flare energies. This idea was investigated, but no correlation could be found between rotational shear and the incidence of flares. Inspection of Kepler light curves shows that rotational modulation is very common over the whole spectral type range. Using the rotational light amplitude, the size distribution of star-spots was investigated. Our analysis suggests that stars with detectable flares have spots significantly larger than non-flare stars, indicating that flare energies are correlated with the size of the active region. Further evidence of the existence of spots on A stars is shown by the correlation between the photometric period and the projected rotational velocity. The existence of spots indicates the presence of magnetic fields, but the fact that A stars lack coronae implies that surface convection is a necessary condition for the formation of the corona.