Symmetries of Magnetic Fields Driven by Spherical Dynamos of Exoplanets and Their Host Stars

Abstract

Observations of exoplanets open a new area of scientific activity and the structure of exoplanet magnetospheres is an important part of this area. Here we use symmetry arguments and experiences in spherical dynamo modeling to obtain the set of possible magnetic configurations for exoplanets and their corresponding host stars. The main part of our results is that the possible choice is much richer than the basic dipole magnetic field of both exoplanets and stars. Other options, for example, are quadrupole configurations or mixed parity solutions. Expected configurations of current sheets for the above mentioned exoplanet host star systems are presented as well.

Keywords

• exoplanets and host stars
• spherical magnetic dynamo
• magnetic field configurations
• dipole and quadrupole symmetries
• current sheets