A new sample of solar analogs and twin candidates have been constructed and studied, with particular attention to their light curves from NASA's Kepler mission. This letter aims to assess the evolutionary status, derive their rotation and ages and identify those solar analogs or solar twin candidates. We separate out the subgiants that compose a large fraction of the asteroseismic sample, and which show an increase in the average rotation period as the stars ascend the subgiant branch. The rotation periods of the dwarfs, ranging from 6 to 30 days, and averaged 19d, allow us to assess their individual evolutionary states on the main sequence, and to derive their ages using gyrochronology. These ages are found to be in agreement with a correlation coefficient of r = 0.79 with the independent asteroseismic ages, where available. As a result of this investigation, we are able to identify 34 stars as solar analogs and 22 of them as solar twin candidates.

Context. Rotational velocity, lithium abundance, and the mass depth of the outer convective zone are key parameters in the study of the processes at work in the stellar interior, in particular when examining the poorly understood processes operating in the interior of solar-analog stars. Aims. We investigate whether the large dispersion in the observed lithium abundances of solar-analog stars can be explained by the depth behavior of the outer convective zone masses, within the framework of the standard convection model based on the local mixing-length theory. We also analyze the link between rotation and lithium abundance in solar-analog stars. Methods. We computed a new extensive grid of stellar evolutionary models, applicable to solar-analog stars, for a finely discretized set of mass and metallicity. From these models, the stellar mass, age, and mass depth of the outer convective zone were estimated for 117 solar-analog stars, using Teff and [Fe/H] available in the literature, and the new HIPPARCOS trigonometric parallax measurements. Results. We determine the age and mass of the outer convective zone for a bona fide sample of 117 solar-analog stars. No significant one-to-one correlation is found between the computed convection zone mass and published lithium abundance, indicating that the large A(Li) dispersion in solar analogs cannot be explained by the classical framework of envelope convective mixing coupled with lithium depletion at the bottom of the convection zone. Conclusions. These results illustrate the need for an extra-mixing process to explain lithium behavior in solar-analog stars, such as, shear mixing caused by differential rotation. To derive a more realistic definition of solar-analog stars, as well as solar-twin stars, it seems important to consider the inner physical properties of stars, such as convection, hence rotation and magnetic properties.

The question of whether the Sun is peculiar within the class of solar-type stars has been the subject of active investigation over the past three decades. Although several solar twins have been found with stellar parameters similar to those of the Sun (albeit in a range of Li abundances and with somewhat different compositions), their rotation periods are unknown, except for 18 Sco, which is younger than the Sun and with a rotation period shorter than solar. It is difficult to obtain rotation periods for stars of solar age from ground-based observations, as a low-activity level implies a shallow rotational modulation of their light curves. CoRoT has provided space-based long time series from which the rotation periods of solar twins as old as the Sun could be estimated. Based on high-signal-to-noise, high-resolution spectroscopic observations gathered at the Subaru Telescope, we show that the star CoRoT ID 102684698 is a somewhat evolved solar twin with a low Li abundance. Its rotation period is 29 ± 5 days, compatible with its age (6.7 Gyr) and low lithium content, A Li 0.85 dex. Interestingly, our CoRoT solar twin seems to have enhanced abundances of the refractory elements with respect to the Sun, a typical characteristic of most nearby twins. With a magnitude V 14.1, ID 102684698 is the first solar twin revealed by CoRoT, the farthest field solar twin so far known, and the only solar twin older than the Sun for which a rotation period has been determined.

We present a study of the evolutionary state of a few lithium-rich giant stars based on the Gaia DR2 parallaxes and photometry. We also investigate the chromospheric activity, the presence of a surface magnetic field, and the radial velocity for our sample stars. We analysed both archive and new data. We gathered archive spectra from several instruments, mainly ELODIE and NARVAL, and we added new data acquired with the spectrograph MUSICOS†. We applied the Least-Squares Deconvolution technique to obtain Stokes V and Stokes I mean profiles to compute longitudinal magnetic field for a subset. Moreover, for the same subset, we analysed the Ca II H and K emission lines to calculate the S-index. We also derived atmospheric parameters and Li abundances for all eighteen stars of our sample. We found that stars previously classified as RGB may actually be at a different evolutionary state. Furthermore, we identified that most stars in our sample with detection of surface magnetic field show at least moderate rotation velocities, but nonetheless, we could not detect a magnetic field in two fast rotators. Due to our small sample of magnetic giants, it is difficult to determine if the presence of surface magnetic field and the Li-rich giant phenomena could be somehow linked. The large variation of the radial velocity of part of our sample indicates that some of them might have a binary companion, which may change the way we look at the Li problem in giant stars.

Context. We present rotation period measurements for subgiants observed by CoRoT. Interpreting the modulation of stellar light that is caused by star-spots on the time scale of the rotational period depends on knowing the fundamental stellar parameters. Aims. Constraints on the angular momentum distribution can be extracted from the true stellar rotational period. By using models with an internal angular momentum distribution and comparing these with measurements of rotation periods of subgiant stars we investigate the agreement between theoretical predictions and observational results. With this comparison we can also reduce the global stellar parameter space compatible with the rotational period measurements from subgiant light curves. We can prove that an evolution assuming solid body rotation is incompatible with the direct measurement of the rotational periods of subgiant stars. Methods. Measuring the rotation periods relies on two different periodogram procedures, the Lomb-Scargle algorithm and the Plavchan periodogram. Angular momentum evolution models were computed to give us the expected rotation periods for subgiants, which we compared with measured rotational periods. Results. We find evidence of a sinusoidal signal that is compatible in terms of both phase and amplitude with rotational modulation. Rotation periods were directly measured from light curves for 30 subgiant stars and indicate a range of 30 to 100 d for their rotational periods. Conclusions. Our models reproduce the rotational periods obtained from CoRoT light curves. These new measurements of rotation periods and stellar models probe the non-rigid rotation of subgiant stars.