2-D models of rapidly rotating stars

Abstract

Recent observational advances in the fields of asteroseismology and interferometry, have put in evidence the need of physically realistic models of rapidly rotating stars.

In rapidly rotating stars, the centrifugal force affects dramatically the structure of the star and makes it necessary to use 2-D methods that take fully into account the deformation of the star. We compute the structure of rapidly rotating stars using 2-D spectral methods.

The advantage of spectral methods compared with finite difference methods is that they can achieve the same accuracy while reducing significantly the number of grid points, thus saving computing time. The models include core convection and realistic microphysics (tabulated equation of state and opacity).