No Arabic abstract
We present the numerical simulations for an electron-beam-driven and loss-cone-driven electron-cyclotron maser (ECM) with different plasma parameters and different magnetic field strengths for a relatively small region and short time-scale in an attempt to interpret the recent discovered intense radio emission from ultracool dwarfs. We find that a large amount of electromagnetic field energy can be effectively released from the beam-driven ECM, which rapidly heats the surrounding plasma. A rapidly developed high-energy tail of electrons in velocity space (resulting from the heating process of the ECM) may produce the radio continuum depending on the initial strength of the external magnetic field and the electron beam current. Both significant linear polarization and circular polarization of electromagnetic waves can be obtained from the simulations. The spectral energy distributions of the simulated radio waves show that harmonics may appear from 10 to 70$ u_{rm pe}$ ($ u_{rm pe}$ is the electron plasma frequency) in the non-relativistic case and from 10 to 600$ u_{rm pe}$ in the relativistic case, which makes it difficult to find the fundamental cyclotron frequency in the observed radio frequencies. A wide frequency band should therefore be covered by future radio observations.
A number of fast-rotating ultra cool dwarfs (UCDs) emit pulsed coherent radiation, attributed to the electron cyclotron maser instability, a phenomenon that occurs in the solar system at planets with strong auroral emission. In this paper we examine magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling currents in UCDs, adopting processes used in models of Jovian emission. We consider the angular velocity gradient arising from a steady outward flux of angular momentum from an internal plasma source, as analogous to the jovian main oval current system, as well as the interaction of a rotating magnetosphere with the external medium. Both of these mechanisms are seen in the solar system to be responsible for the production of radio emission. We present the results of an investigation over a range of relevant plasma and magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling parameters to determine regimes consistent with observed UCD radio luminosities. Both processes are able to explain observed UCD luminosities with ionospheric Pedersen conductances of ~1-2 mho, either for a closed magnetosphere with a plasma mass outflow rate of ~10$^5$ kg/s, i.e. a factor of ~100 larger than that observed at Jupiters moon Io, or for a dwarf with an open magnetosphere moving through the interstellar medium at ~50 km/s and a plasma mass outflow rate of ~1000 kg/s. The radio luminosity resulting from these mechanisms have opposing dependencies on the magnetic field strength, a point which may be used to discriminate between the two models as more data become available.
Recently, a number of ultracool dwarfs have been found to produce periodic radio bursts with high brightness temperature and polarization degree; the emission properties are similar to the auroral radio emissions of the magnetized planets of the Solar System. We simulate the dynamic spectra of radio emission from ultracool dwarfs. The emission is assumed to be generated due to the electron-cyclotron maser instability. We consider two source models: the emission caused by interaction with a satellite and the emission from a narrow sector of active longitudes; the stellar magnetic field is modeled by a tilted dipole. We have found that for the dwarf TVLM 513-46546, the model of the satellite-induced emission is inconsistent with the observations. On the other hand, the model of emission from an active sector is able to reproduce qualitatively the main features of the radio light curves of this dwarf; the magnetic dipole seems to be highly tilted (by about 60 degrees) with respect to the rotation axis.
We report the results of a volume-limited survey using the Australia Telescope Compact Array to search for transient and quiescent radio emission from 15 southern hemisphere ultracool dwarfs. We detect radio emission from 2MASSW J0004348-404405 increasing the number of radio loud ultracool dwarfs to 22. We also observe radio emission from 2MASS J10481463-3956062 and 2MASSI J0339352-352544, two sources with previous radio detections. The radio emission from the three detected sources shows no variability or flare emission. Modelling this quiescent emission we find that it is consistent with optically thin gyrosynchrotron emission from a magnetosphere with an emitting region radius of (1 - 2)$R_*$, magnetic field inclination 20$^{circ}$ - 80$^{circ}$, field strength $sim$10 - 200 G, and power-law electron density $sim$10$^4$ - 10$^8$ cm$^{-3}$. Additionally, we place upper limits on four ultracool dwarfs with no previous radio observations. This increases the number of ultracool dwarfs studied at radio frequencies to 222. Analysing general trends of the radio emission for this sample of 15 sources, we find that the radio activity increases for later spectral types and more rapidly rotating objects. Furthermore, comparing the ratio of the radio to X-ray luminosities for these sources, we find 2MASS J10481463-3956062 and 2MASSI J0339352-352544 violate the Guedel-Benz relation by more than two orders of magnitude.
There have recently been detections of radio emission from low-mass stars, some of which are indicative of star-planet interactions. Motivated by these exciting new results, here we present stellar wind models for the active planet-hosting M dwarf AU Mic. Our models incorporate the large-scale photospheric magnetic field map of the star, reconstructed using the Zeeman-Doppler Imaging method. We use our models to assess if planet-induced radio emission could be generated in the corona of AU Mic, through a mechanism analogous to the sub-Alfvenic Jupiter-Io interaction. In the case that AU Mic has a mass-loss rate of 27 times that of the Sun, we find that both planets b and c in the system can induce radio emission from 10 MHz to 3 GHz in the corona of the host star for the majority of their orbits, with peak flux densities of 10 mJy. Our predicted emission bears a striking similarity to that recently reported from GJ 1151 by Vedantham et al. (2020), which is indicative of being induced by a planet. Detection of such radio emission would allow us to place an upper limit on the mass-loss rate of the star.
We consider the magnetic interaction of exoplanets orbiting M-dwarfs, calculating the expected Poynting flux carried upstream along Alfv{e}n wings to the central star. A region of emission analogous to the Io footprint observed in Jupiters aurora is produced, and we calculate the radio flux density generated near the surface of the star via the electron-cyclotron maser instability. We apply the model to produce individual case studies for the TRAPPIST-1, Proxima Centauri, and the dwarf NGTS-1 systems. We predict steady-state flux densities of up to ~ 10 $mu$Jy and sporadic bursts of emission of up to ~ 1 mJy from each case study, suggesting these systems may be detectable with the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), and in future with the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Finally, we present a survey of 85 exoplanets orbiting M-dwarfs, identifying 11 such objects capable of generating radio emission above 10 $mu$Jy.