Influence of the Coriolis force on the instability of slowly pulsating B stars

This paper explores the effect of rotation on the κ-mechanism instability of slowly pulsating B stars. A new nonadiabatic code, that adopts the so-called ‘traditional approximation’ to treat the Coriolis force, is used to investigate the influence exerted by rotation over the stability of stellar models covering the mass range 2.5M⊙ 6 M∗ 6 13.0M⊙. The principal finding is that, for all modes considered apart from the prograde sectoral class, rotation shifts the κ-mechanism instability toward higher luminosities and effective temperatures; these shifts are accompanied by broadenings in the extent of instability strips. Such behaviour is traced to the shortening of mode periods under the action of the Coriolis force. Instability strips associated with prograde sectoral modes behave rather differently, being shifted to marginally lower luminosities and effective temperatures under the influence of rotation. The implications of these results are discussed in the context of the observational scarcity of pulsation in B-type stars having significant rotation; various scenarios are explored to explain the apparent dichotomy between theory and observations. Furthermore, the possible significance of the findings to Be stars is briefly examined.