Magnetic Fields in Stars: Origin and Impact

Abstract

Various types of magnetic fields occur in stars: small scale fields, large scale fields, and internal toroidal fields. While the latter may be ubiquitous in stars due to differential rotation, small scale fields (spots) may be associated with envelop convection in all low and high mass stars. The stable large scale fields found in only about 10 per cent of intermediate mass and massive stars may be understood as a consequence of dynamical binary interaction, e.g., the merging of two stars in a binary. We relate these ideas to magnetic fields in white dwarfs and neutron stars, and to their role in core-collapse and thermonuclear supernova explosions.