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[2.01] Well Defined Areas of Doubt and Uncertainty in M Dwarf Astrophysics

S. L. Hawley (University of Washington)

Although M dwarfs comprise some 80% of the stars in the Galaxy, many of their properties remain unexplained. I will concentrate on three well-defined, unsolved problems in these stars, to wit: 1) the response of the M dwarf atmosphere to flare heating, a classic problem in stellar atmospheric physics; 2) the appearance of a break in the HR diagram in the mid-M dwarfs; and 3) the changes in surface magnetic activity through the M dwarf temperature sequence. I will show conclusively that, while our understanding of this ubiquitous population is far from complete, M dwarfs are an excellent testbed for stellar astrophysics.

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #4
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.