Doin' the twist: secular changes in the surface differential rotation on AB Doradus

We present measurements of the rotation rates of individual starspots on the rapidly rotating young K0 dwarf AB Doradus, at six epochs between 1988 December and 1996 December. The equatorial rotation period of the star decreased from 0.5137 to 0.5129 d between 1988 December and 1992 January. It then increased steadily, attaining a value of 0.5133 d by 1996 December. The latitude dependence of the rotation rate mirrored the chances in the equatorial rotation rate. The beat period between the equatorial and polar rotation periods dropped from 140 to 70 d initially, then rose steadily. The most rigid rotation, in 1988 December, occurred when the starspot coverage was at a maximum. The time-dependent part of the differential rotation is found to have DeltaOmega/Omega similar or equal to 0.004, which should alter the oblateness of the star enough to explain the period changes observed in several close binaries via the Applegate mechanism.