Comparative analysis of two formation scenarios of bursty radio emission from ultracool dwarfs

Abstract

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 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°) with respect to the rotation axis. © 2012. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.