New Suns in the Cosmos. IV. The Multifractal Nature of Stellar Magnetic Activity in Kepler Cool Stars

Abstract

Abstract In the present study, we investigate the multifractal nature of a long-cadence time series observed by the Kepler mission for a sample of 34 M dwarf stars and the Sun in its active phase. Using the Multifractal Detrending Moving Average algorithm, which enables the detection of multifractality in nonstationary time series, we define a set of multifractal indices based on the multifractal spectrum profile as a measure of the level of stellar magnetic activity. This set of indices is given by the (A, , C, H)-quartet, where A, , and C are related to geometric features from the multifractal spectrum and the global Hurst exponent H describes the global structure and memorability of time series dynamics. As a test, we measure these indices and compare them with a magnetic index defined as S ph and verify the degree of correlation among them. First, we apply the Poincaré plot method and find a strong correlation between the index and one of the descriptors that emerges from this method. As a result, we find that this index is strongly correlated with long-term features of the signal. From the multifractal perspective, the index is also strongly linked to the geometric properties of the multifractal spectrum except for the H index. Furthermore, our results emphasize that the rotation period of stars is scaled by the H index, which is consistent with Skumanich’s relationship. Finally, our approach suggests that the H index may be related to the evolution of stellar angular momentum and a star’s magnetic properties.