Resonant Excitation of Nonradial Modes in RR Lyrae Stars

Abstract

A nonlinear development of radial pulsation instability to a resonant excitation of nonradial modes is studied. The theory covers the cases of axisymmetric (m=0) modes as well as (m,-m) pairs. Adopting a simplified treatment of the mode coupling, it is found that multimode pulsation with constant amplitudes is a highly probable solution. An observable consequence of the m=0 mode excitation is randomness of pulsation amplitude. The case of an l=1 mode is the most important because of a small averaging effect and a large excitation probability. A significant amplitude and phase modulation is predicted in the case of excitation of an l=1,m=+/-1 pair. This may explain Blazhko-type modulation in RR Lyrae stars. If this model is correct, the modulation period is determined by the rotation rate and the Brunt-Vaisala frequency in the deepest part of the radiative envelope.