Abstract
Stars are the building blocks of planetary systems, clusters, associations, and galaxies. The evolution of stars is driven by physical processes in their interiors making theory of stellar interior structure and evolution an important ingredient of contemporary astrophysics. Despite its importance, this theory contains major shortcomings starting from the early stages of stellar evolution which significantly impact all subsequent evolutionary phases. Studying the pulsations of young intermediate-mass stars, i.e. conducting pre-main sequence (pre-MS) asteroseismology, has the potential to contribute to a better understanding of the processes acting during the earliest phases of stellar evolution. With ultra-precise observational data obtained from space and from ground in combination with improvements of our theoretical models for pre-MS stars, the field of pre-MS asteroseismology will advance in the future and provide important constraints for the input physics of early stellar evolution.
Highlights
The earliest phases in the lives of stars determine their whole future fate until their deaths
Models predict that for intermediate mass stars just before the main sequence phase, there is a brief period of nuclear burning where carbon is burnt by the CNO cycle until C and N reach nuclear burning equilibrium
Similar to their hydrogen core burning counterparts, pre-main sequence (pre-MS) δ Scuti pulsators are intermediate mass stars of spectral types A–F with pulsation periods between about 18 min and 7 h and pulsation amplitudes at the millimagnitude level. δ Scuti stars in all evolutionary stages pulsate with p-modes that are driven by the κ-mechanism in the H, He I, and He II ionization zones
Summary
The earliest phases in the lives of stars determine their whole future fate until their deaths. The angular momentum that stars obtain during their formation may crucially influence their future lives These examples illustrate that understanding the physical processes occurring during the earliest stages of stellar evolution is essential. Asteroseismology can be successfully applied to pre-main sequence (preMS) stars and will allow us to answer some of the yet open questions of early stellar evolution. In this context, two main challenges need to be tackled in the coming years: we need precise enough observational data for pre-MS pulsators (i.e., long and high precision photometric time series and high-resolution spectroscopy) and improved input physics for the theoretical models of stars before the onset of hydrogen-core burning
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