Events in Physics
Chloe Pugh (Warwick): 'Kepler Observations of Quasi-periodic Pulsations in Stellar Flares'
Abstract: Quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs) in solar flares have been widely observed, and can be used as a coronal plasma diagnostics tool. More recently, QPPs have been observed in flares of other stars, many of which are thousands of times more powerful than anything observed on the Sun. Stellar flares have been identified in the short-cadence light curves of over 200 Kepler stars, and examined for evidence of QPPs. Those showing evidence of pulsations have been analysed using the autocorrelation and wavelet techniques. QPP-like signatures have been detected in 56 flares, and of these 11 have clear damped oscillations which could be modelled. A statistical analysis suggests that the QPPs found in these stellar flares are consistent with those found in solar flares.