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ABSTRACT KIC 3429637 (HD 178875) is a δ Sct star whose light curve shows continuous pulsational amplitude growth in Kepler mission photometry. Analysis of the three largest amplitude peaks in the Fourier transform indicates different growth rates for all three. We have ruled out instrumental causes, and determine the amplitude growth to be intrinsic to the star. We calculate time-dependent convection models and compare them with the observations. We confirm earlier characterizations that KIC 3429637 is a marginal Am star through the analysis of new spectroscopic data. With the data presently available, a plausible cause of the amplitude growth is increasing pulsational driving as evolutionary changes shift the He ii driving zone deeper in this ρ Puppis star. If this model is correct, then we are watching real-time stellar evolutionary changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Since the early days of helioseismology, adiabatic models have shown their limits for a precise fitting of individual oscillation frequencies. This discrepancy, which also exists for solar-type stars, is known to originate near the surface superadiabatic convective region where the interaction between oscillations and convection is likely to have a large effect on the frequencies. We present an asteroseismic study to address the adequacy of time-dependent convection (TDC) non-adiabatic models to better reproduce the observed individual frequencies. We select, for this purpose, three solar-like stars, in addition to the Sun, to which we fit the observed frequencies in a grid of TDC non-adiabatic models. The best model selection is done by applying a maximum likelihood method. The results are compared to pure adiabatic and near-surface corrected adiabatic models. We show that, first, TDC models give very good agreement for the mode frequencies and average lifetimes. In the solar case, the frequency discrepancy is reduced to <1.75 μHz over 95 per cent of the modes considered. Secondly, TDC models give an asteroseismic insight into the usually unconstrained ad hoc stellar parameters, such as the mixing-length parameter αMLT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims. The determination of the location of the theoretical ZZ Ceti instability strip in the log g-Teff diagram has remained a challenge over the years due to the lack of a suitable treatment for convection in these stars. For the first time, a full nonadiabatic approach including time-dependent convection is applied to ZZ Ceti pulsators, and we provide the appropriate details related to the inner workings of the driving mechanism. Methods. We used the nonadiabatic pulsation code MAD with a representative evolutionary sequence of a 0.6 M☉ DA white dwarf. This sequence is made of state-of-the-art models that include a detailed modeling of the feedback of convection on the atmospheric structure. The assumed convective efficiency in these models is the so-calledML2/α = 1.0 version. We also carried out, for comparison purposes, nonadiabatic computations within the frozen convection approximation, as well as calculations based on models with standard grey atmospheres. Results. We find that pulsational driving in ZZ Ceti stars is concentrated at the base of the superficial H convection zone, but at depths, near the blue edge of the instability strip, somewhat larger than those obtained with the frozen convection approach. Despite the fact that this approach is formally invalid in such stars, particularly near the blue edge of the instability strip, the predicted boundaries are not dramatically different in both cases. The revised blue edge for a 0.6 M☉ model is found to be around Teff = 11 970 K, some 240 K hotter than the value predicted within the frozen convection approximation, in rather good agreement with the empirical value. On the other hand, our predicted red edge temperature for the same stellar mass is only about 5600 K (80 K hotter than with the frozen convection approach), much lower than the observed value. Conclusions. We correctly understand the development of pulsational instabilities of a white dwarf as it cools at the blue edge of the ZZ Ceti instability strip. Our current implementation of time-dependent convection however still lacks important ingredients to fully account for the observed red edge of the strip. We will explore a number of possibilities in the future papers of this series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT We analyse Kepler observations of the high-amplitude δ Scuti (HADS) star V2367 Cyg (KIC 9408694). The variations are dominated by a mode with frequency f1= 5.6611 d−1. Two other independent modes with f2= 7.1490 d−1 and f3= 7.7756 d−1 have amplitudes an order of magnitude smaller than f1. Nearly all the light variation is due to these three modes and their combination frequencies, but several hundred other frequencies of very low amplitude are also present. The amplitudes of the principal modes may vary slightly with time. The star has twice the projected rotational velocity of any other HADS star, which makes it unusual. We find a correlation between the phases of the combination frequencies and their pulsation frequencies, which is not understood. Since modes of highest amplitude in HADS stars are normally radial modes, we assumed that this would also be true in this star. However, attempts to model the observed frequencies as radial modes without mode interaction were not successful. For a star with such a relatively high rotational velocity, it is important to consider the effect of mode interaction. Indeed, when this was done, we were able to obtain a model in which a good match with f1 and f2 is obtained, with f1 being the fundamental radial mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Delta Scuti (??Sct) stars are opacity-driven pulsators with masses of 1.5-2.5M?, their pulsations resulting from the varying ionization of helium. In less massive stars such as the Sun, convection transports mass and energy through the outer 30?per cent of the star and excites a rich spectrum of resonant acoustic modes. Based on the solar example, with no firm theoretical basis, models predict that the convective envelope in ??Sct stars extends only about 1?per cent of the radius, but with sufficient energy to excite solar-like oscillations. This was not observed before the Kepler mission, so the presence of a convective envelope in the models has been questioned. Here we report the detection of solar-like oscillations in the ??Sct star HD?187547, implying that surface convection operates efficiently in stars about twice as massive as the Sun, as the ad hoc models predicted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an analysis of high-resolution spectra for two pulsating Am stars in the Kepler field. The stellar parameters derived in this way are important because parameters derived from narrow-band photometry may be affected by the strong metal lines in these stars. We analyse the Kepler time series of ten known Am stars and find that six of them clearly show δ Scuti pulsations. The other four appear to be non-pulsating. We derive fundamental parameters for all known pulsating Am stars from ground-based observations and also for the Kepler Am stars to investigate the location of the instability strip for pulsating Am stars. We find that there is not much difference between the Am-star instability strip and the δ Scuti instability strip. We find that the observed location of pulsating Am stars in the HR diagram does not agree with the location predicted from diffusion calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report spectroscopic observations for 19 δ Sct candidates observed by the Kepler satellite both in long and short cadence mode. For all these stars, by using spectral synthesis, we derive the effective temperature, the surface gravity and the projected rotational velocity. An equivalent spectral-type classification has been also performed for all stars in the sample. These determinations are fundamental for modelling the frequency spectra that will be extracted from the Kepler data for asteroseismic inference. For all the 19 stars, we also present periodograms obtained from Kepler data. We find that all stars show peaks in both low- (γ Dor; g-mode) and high-frequency (δ Sct; p-mode) regions. Using the amplitudes and considering 5 cycles d as a boundary frequency, we classified three stars as pure γ Dor, four as γ Dor-δ hybrid Sct, five as δ Sct-γ Dor hybrid and six as pure δ Sct. The only exception is the star KIC 05296877, which we suggest could be a binary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We apply for the first time the time-dependent convection (TDC) treatment of Gabriel and Grigahcène et al. to the mode identification and seismic study of δ Sct stars. We consider the influence of this treatment on the photometric amplitude ratios and phase differences, and compare our TDC results to frozen convection (FC) results. We also compare the results obtained with different values of the mixing-length (ML) parameter α. Finally, we identify the modes and perform a seismic study of the stars V784 Cassiopeae (Cas), 1 Monocerotis (Mon) and 28 Andromedae (And), and show that our TDC models agree better with observations than FC models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We apply for the first time the time-dependent convection (TDC) treatment of Gabriel and Grigahcène et al. to the photometric mode identification inγ Doradus (γ Dor) stars. We consider the influence of this treatment on the theoretical amplitude ratios and phase differences. Comparison with the observed amplitudes and phases of the starsγ Dor, 9 Aurigae, HD 207223= HR 8330, HD 12901 and 48501 is presented and enables us to identify the degreeℓ of the pulsation modes for four of them. We also determine the mode stability for different models of these stars. We show that our TDC models agree better with observations than with frozen convection models. Finally, we compare the results obtained with different values of the mixing-length parameterα. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]