An Introduction to Stellar Magnetic Activity

This book provides an introduction to our current knowledge of stellar magnetic activity. It is intended for graduate or advanced undergraduate students or researchers new to the field. Starting with the Sun, it extends to stars of all masses and ages. Topics include the production and measurement of the fields themselves, their effects on the stellar atmospheres, the diagnostics we use to understand them, and the effects of the magnetic activity on the star and its surrounds over time. It is partly a history of the field with early pioneering references as well as the latest work. It is deliberately neither an extensive review of the literature nor a textbook with full mathematical and physical detail, but does contain useful pointers to such material and many illustrative figures. Instead, it is a comprehensive overview of the many directions research has taken and a summary of what has been learned. It includes an Appendix on radiative transfer to aid the understanding of how we infer physical information from strong spectral lines diagnostic of stellar activity. The field is rapidly advancing, and An Introduction to Stellar Magnetic Activity will serve as an initial resource for those new to the area, or as an overview for those already involved who want a wider or historical perspective, along with suggestions as to which directions that new research might take.