Dr. Alicia Aarnio, Vanderbilt

"Investigating Magnetic Field-Circumstellar Disk Interaction in T
Tauri Stars of the Orion Nebula Cluster"

Abstract: 
The Orion Nebula Cluster is an active site of star formation
which provides observers with a glimpse into the earliest stages of
stellar evolution.  The cluster is home to thousands of objects a few
million years of age or younger; for a subset of these young stars,
energetic X-ray activity has been observed using the Chandra X-ray
Observatory.  Using a uniform cooling loop model effective in modeling
solar magnetic field loops, Favata et al. (2005) derive loop arc lengths
of tens of stellar radii or larger in some cases.  In this work, we
present Monte Carlo models of the spectral energy distributions of the
stars with the largest flaring loops.  We consider the implications of
the flare loop lengths with respect to the truncation radii obtained
from the best fit models and discuss the derived loop lengths in the
context of stellar angular momentum loss theories.