Dynamics of rotation in M dwarfs: Indications for a change in the dynamo regime in stars at the onset of complete convection

TL;DR

This study measures the rotation velocities of M3 dwarf stars, revealing a distinct slowdown at spectral subtype dM3, which may indicate a transition in the stellar dynamo regime associated with the onset of complete convection.

Contribution

The paper provides high-precision v sin i measurements for dM3 stars and identifies a unique rotational slowdown at this spectral subtype, suggesting a change in the dynamo mechanism.

Findings

dM3 stars rotate significantly slower than dM2 and dM4 stars.

The rotational slowdown is observed in both slow and fast rotators.

Results support the hypothesis of a dynamo regime change at the onset of complete convection.

Abstract

We have measured v sin i with high precision for a sample of dM3 stars (86 targets). We detected rotation in 82 stars (73 dM3 stars, and 9 dM3e stars). We compare our measurements of v sin i for all the stars in our dM0, dM2, dM3 and dM4 samples to those from other authors. We find a good agreement down to v sin i values of less than 1 km/s. The mean of the differences between measurements is only 0.42 km/s. We find that the distribution of P/sini for our dM3 stars is different from the distribution of P/sini among our samples of dM2 and dM4 stars. The mean rotation rate for the dM3 stars (excluding dM3e and sdM3 stars) is significantly slower (25.8 days) than for dM2 (14.4 days) and dM4 stars (11.4 days). Analogous behavior also emerges among the faster rotators (dMe stars): we find that a longer rotation period also occurs at spectral sub-type dM3e. Our data suggest that, as regards the rotational properties of lower main sequence stars, spectral sub-type dM3 stands out as exhibiting unusual slow rotation compared to that of adjoining sub-types. Our data lead us to suggest that the unusual rotational properties of M3 dwarfs may represent a signature of the transition to complete convection (TTCC).