2 - On the diversity of stellar pulsations

Summary

Pulsation is a common phenomenon in stars. It occurs in a wide range of their masses and in all evolutionary phases, exhibiting large variety of forms. Stochastic driving and just two distinct instability mechanisms are the cause of the widespread phenomenon. The diversity of pulsation properties in stars across the H-R diagram is partially explained in terms of differences in the ranges of unstable modes and in terms nonlinear mechanisms of amplitude limitation. Still a great deal remains to be explained.

Introduction

Excitation of the fundamental radial mode was the essence of the pulsation hypothesis when it was first proposed by Ritter in 1879, as an explanation of periodic variability in stars. Radial symmetry of the motion was confirmed for a number of objects by means of observational tests. Excitation of the same, presumably fundamental, mode in all δ Cephei type stars got support in the discovery of the period-luminosity relation, which at some point seemed unique. Soon, the hypothesis that only the fundamental radial mode may be excited became a dogma like the earlier one that stars do not vary.

Referring to Schwarzschild's (1942) suggestion that RRc stars might be first overtone pulsators, Rosseland (1949) wrote: This hypothesis involves the very difficult problem of how to excite a higher mode to pulsation while leaving the fundamental mode unexcited.