Using Close White Dwarf + M Dwarf Stellar Pairs to Constrain the Flare Rates in Close Stellar Binaries

TL;DR

This study compares flare rates of M dwarfs with close white dwarf companions to isolated M dwarfs, revealing higher overall flare activity in binary systems, which impacts understanding of stellar activity and planetary habitability.

Contribution

It provides the first statistical analysis of flare rates in close WD+dM binaries, showing increased activity compared to field M dwarfs, and discusses implications for stellar and planetary evolution.

Findings

Higher overall flaring fraction in WD+dM pairs (0.09%) than field dMs (0.0108%)

Lower flaring fraction for active WD+dMs (0.05%) compared to active dMs (0.28%)

Results constrain binary star flare rates and inform planetary habitability studies.

Abstract

We present a study of the statistical flare rates of M dwarfs (dMs) with close white dwarf (WD) companions (WD+dM; typical separations < 1 au). Our previous analysis demonstrated that dMs with close WD companions are more magnetically active than their field counterparts. One likely implication of having a close binary companion is increased stellar rotation through disk-disruption, tidal effects, and/or angular momentum exchange; increased stellar rotation has long been associated with an increase in stellar activity. Previous studies show a strong correlation between dMs that are magnetically active (showing H{\alpha} in emission) and the frequency of stellar flare rates. We examine the difference between the flare rates observed in close WD+dM binary systems and field dMs. Our sample consists of a subset of 181 close WD+dM pairs from Morgan et al. (2012) observed in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stripe 82, where we obtain multi-epoch observations in the Sloan ugriz-bands. We find an increase in the overall flaring fraction in the close WD+dM pairs (0.09$\pm$0.03%) compared to the field dMs (0.0108$\pm$0.0007%; Kowalski et al. 2009) and a lower flaring fraction for active WD+dMs (0.05$\pm$0.03%) compared to active dMs (0.28$\pm$0.05%; Kowalski et al. 2009). We discuss how our results constrain both the single and binary dM flare rates. Our results also constrain dM multiplicity, our knowledge of the Galactic transient background, and may be important for the habitability of attending planets around dMs with close companions.