Confirmation of the Electron Cyclotron Maser Instability as the Dominant Source of Radio Emission from Very Low Mass Stars and Brown Dwarfs

TL;DR

This study provides strong evidence that electron cyclotron maser instability is the main source of radio emission in ultracool dwarfs, supported by radio observations of specific low-mass stars showing polarized and unpolarized emissions.

Contribution

It confirms the electron cyclotron maser instability as the dominant emission mechanism in ultracool dwarfs through detailed radio observations and analysis of polarization and rotation geometry.

Findings

Periodic polarized radio pulses detected from two ultracool dwarfs.

Unpolarized radio emission also observed, likely due to depolarized electron cyclotron maser emission.

Rotation axes of the studied dwarfs are nearly perpendicular to our line of sight.

Abstract

We report on radio observations of the M8.5 dwarf LSR J1835+3259 and the L3.5 dwarf 2MASS J00361617+1821104, which provide the strongest evidence to date that the electron cyclotron maser instability is the dominant mechanism producing radio emission in the magnetospheres of ultracool dwarfs. As has previously been reported for the M9 dwarf TVLM 513-46546, periodic pulses of 100% circularly polarized, coherent radio emission are detected from both dwarfs with periods of 2.84 +/- 0.01 and 3.08 +/- 0.05 hours respectively for LSR J1835+3259 and 2MASS J00361617+1821104. Importantly, periodic unpolarized radio emission is also detected from 2MASS J00361617+1821104, and brightness temperature limitations rule out gyrosynchrotron radiation as a source of this radio emission. The unpolarized emission from this and other ultracool dwarfs is also attributed to electron cyclotron maser emission, which has become depolarized on traversing the ultracool dwarf magnetosphere, possibly due to propagations effects such as scattering. Based on available v sin i data in the literature and rotation periods derived from the periodic radio data for the three confirmed sources of electron cyclotron maser emission, TVLM 513-46546, LSR J1835+3259 and 2MASS J00361617+1821104, we determine that the rotation axes of all three dwarfs are close to perpendicular to our line of sight. This suggests a possible geometrical selection effect due to the inherent directivity of electron cyclotron maser emission, that may account for the previously reported relationship between radio activity and v sin i observed for ultracool dwarfs. We also determine the radius of the dwarf LSR J1835+3259 to be > 0.117 +/- 0.012 R_Sol. (abridged)