Baade-Wesselink and related techniques for mode discrimination in nonradial stellar pulsations

Abstract

Linearized nonradial expressions for light, colour and radial velocity changes are employed to examine the Baade-Wesselink method as applied to the problem of nonradial mode identification in variable stars. It is demonstrated that the usual assumption of a single-valued relation between surface brightness changes and colour variations fails for spherical harmonics withl>1. A Baade-Wesselink expression taking this into account is then given. Using test models for different variable star regimes it is shown that discrimination betweenl=0, 1, and 2 is currently feasible provided adequate attention is paid to pressure effects and to the procedure used to obtain radial velocity data. For higherl, mode discrimination, while possible in principle, is constrained by the stringent requirements on radial velocity measurements and by cases of confusion with lowerl. A review of related but less observationally demanding possible mode discriminators is given. This demonstrates that techniques based on amplitude and phase information in light and colour data may provide reliable discrimination betweenl=0, 1, and 2 when pressure effects are allowed for. For these techniques discrimination of higherl is limited by inadequate model atmosphere limbdarkening information and by confusion with lowerl.